Smart Grid Will Reinvent and Revitalize Energy Efficiency for Retailers

Apogee Interactive founder and long-time industry expert Joel Gilbert advised national retailers to keep a close eye on the smart grid, saying "What was once price prohibitive is now going to be relatively easy, and this will reinvent and revitalize energy efficiency efforts for many retailers." Gilbert addressed the Edison Electric Institute annual conference for national accounts in Boston yesterday.

"The Smart Grid may enable smaller retailers to participate in deeper partnerships with their energy providers on price-responsive load and in tracking energy efficiency efforts," said Gilbert. This meeting marked Gilbert's 10th consecutive year to address EEI's National Accounts Conference comprised of more than 600 senior executives and facilities directors for national chain retailers such as Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Marriott, Starbucks and more.

He encouraged the retailers to pursue efficiency retrofits and renewable energy projects now saying, "Funding for energy initiatives are likely to peak this year, so it's time to get even more aggressive with what was once thought to be advanced technology. There may never be a better time to put together such energy projects."

Gilbert also noted the advent of devices from home automation and energy management system companies such as Control4 and others will make it easy and cost effective for small customers to easily manage their energy use. Apogee Interactive developed and licenses the energy analysis software that serves as the analytical engine for the control devices.

However, Gilbert did offer a word of caution, "The smart meters we all hear about may not be able to do decimal-level math and record fractional kilowatt hour use. Using whole number or integer-based meters is like trying to navigate around your neighborhood using an odometer without a tenth-of-a-mile digit."

Gilbert has observed the energy roller coaster for nearly four decades, through boom times and down turns, through cogeneration, deregulation and reregulation. "Today, energy suppliers, their customers, and trade allies will all have to work together as our country works through the details of our policies and politics on energy over this next year," Gilbert said. "We need true dialogue and not dogma to make this possible."

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