STREAMLINING ENERGY AND
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
How can utility providers help their clients navigate regulatory requirements and
alleviate the strain of data requests in response to reporting laws?
In a world where managing energy efficiently and sustainably is no longer optional but
imperative, utility companies face a significant challenge: the vast and complex task of
handling energy data on behalf of their customers and internally. Utility ecosystems are
undoubtedly at the heart of addressing the energy transition and decarbonization agenda,
forcing utility companies into the front lines of new climate regulations. Nearly every state has
adopted or is considering green energy legislation, compelling businesses to reassess their
energy strategies to remain compliant. This legislation includes building benchmarking
mandates, disclosure, and transparency mandates through building performance standard
legislation such as New York's Local Law 97, Boston's BERDO, and Denver's Energize Denver,
mandatory GHG reduction bills, and goals to transition to low-carbon electricity. Such
measures emphasize the urgency for in-depth energy reporting and strategic energy
management.
As critical participants in these mandates, utility companies will need to: 1) be on top of
aggregating and submitting data to platforms like ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager on
behalf of commercial customers that must comply, 2) track and reduce their carbon
emissions, and 3) engage with customers to help them reduce energy usage and provide
avenues for them to procure cleaner options. Utility companies need to understand that the
same legislative pressures are growing for them and for their customers, who are increasingly
upping their requests for utility data to comply.
Sustainability & Energy Management Simplified
Benchmarking Ordinances:
Benchmarking ordinances require large building owners to
report their gas and electric usage data to a common system.
In the U.S., that system is ENERGY STAR portfolio manager.
These bills require direct action from utilities to help their
commercial customers comply. This is either facilitated
through direct submissions to ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager on behalf of customers or utilities may maintain a
portal for customers to gain access there. Utilities should
anticipate benchmarking ordinances to pass in most regions
across the U.S. with implementation timelines for data
acquisition within months after enactment. With these laws,
the ability to aggregate meter billing data, manage tenant
data, and balance tenant vs. building owner data access, and
knowledge of portfolio manager, will be essential.
Building Performance Standards:
Many states and jurisdictions are
now going beyond benchmarking,
and rolling out mandates for
building owners to meet specified
targets either for energy use
intensity or emissions reduction.
These bills are called building
performance standards. New BPS
legislation is starting to proliferate
across various states, and utility
companies need to be prepared for
the number of data aggregation
requests to increase exponentially in
the wake of these mandates.
