Alternative Billing Structures For Watauga County Municipal Buildings

Advances in metering technology open up opportunities for alternative billing structures for electricity customers. Physical or virtual aggregation offer customers the chance to aggregate their electricity accounts that might otherwise be metered and billed separately. This can lead to financial savings as well as allow customers to more efficiently run and schedule their electric loads. Watauga County has a group of five accounts that are ideal candidates for virtual account aggregation. The Watauga County Courthouse and the Administration Building house these five accounts and these buildings are located on adjacent parcels of land. Detailed consumption records allowed for a thorough analysis of these accounts’ electricity use patterns on an hourly, daily, and seasonal basis. The analysis shows that many of the accounts peak at different hours of the day, thus making them the perfect group to aggregate and see significant savings in demand charges. Aggregating the bills would also save the county money in the form of reduced facilities charges and one account being charged on a lower usage rate. Overall, the study found that energy consumption varied significantly based on the day of the week, hour of the day, and season. The analysis results anticipated approximately $8,500 worth of savings for the county with an aggregated billing approach.