Earning smart grid recognition to support sustainable job creation
EPB has earned a smart grid certification that serves as an additional point of attraction for new companies and business investments that are focused on resilience and sustainability. Chattanooga's Smart Grid, operated by EPB, has been recognized by Green Business Certification Inc.™ (GBCI), the world's leading sustainability and health certification and credentialing body, for achieving PEER Gold (Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal™) recertification.
“Through their Gold recertification, Chattanooga has achieved the most resilient and reliable PEER-certified utility power grid in the United States,” said Sean McMahon, Vice President of Product Management at GBCI.
PEER is the world's first certification program that measures and improves power system performance and electricity infrastructure, and advances sustainable, resilient and reliable energy systems. This announcement builds on EPB's designation in 2015 as the first municipal utility to achieve PEER certification.
Earning PEER Gold also enhances EPB's ability to support local economic growth especially by helping to grow and attract companies that have a particular focus on sustainability. Because the new designation recognizes that EPB has integrated a high degree of environmental stewardship into its advanced electricity distribution system, companies in EPB's service area can earn extra points toward the LEED certification of their green development projects.
As an example, Volkswagen Group of America is building on its continuing commitment to environmental sustainability by integrating Chattanooga's Smart Grid designation into its plan to build its new Chattanooga-based Battery Engineering Lab to LEED's green building standard. The Battery Engineering Lab will house battery testing and high-voltage component engineering and will drive Volkswagen's strategy to center assembly of electric vehicles and battery know-how at its Chattanooga site.
Helping customers shift to electric vehicles
To help prepare customers as the automotive industry shifts to Electric Vehicles, the EPB Energy ProsSM continued to offer free consultations for anyone who has questions about EV performance, cost savings, charging and more.
This year EPB also launched incentives for commercial customers to encourage them to install EV chargers, including a special commercial EV charging rate. We also unveiled 13 new electric vehicle charging stations on the first floor of EPB's Downtown Chattanooga parking garage which are free for the public to use when they pay for parking. In addition, EPB is continuing the process of partnering with Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and TVA to establish a fast-charging station in downtown Chattanooga as part of the larger effort to place EV charging stations every 50 miles along interstates and major highways in the State of Tennessee.
With the goal of supporting local job creation and attracting new business investment, EPB played a lead role in presenting the 2022 Global Electric Vehicle Battery Innovations Conference in Chattanooga which was attended by executives from EV infrastructure and battery manufacturers from around the world, plus energy and transportation officials.
Looking to the future, EPB is exploring the development of innovative new products to manage the increased power demand as the number of EVs increases, exploring options for utilizing batteries beyond their use in EVs, and developing solutions for EV charging at multi-dwelling units like apartments and college dorms.
Enhancing resilience, sustainability and savings with microgrids
EPB is adding three new microgrids to the Chattanooga service area in 2022 to improve service to our customers across our territory. These battery storage sites can provide emergency power during outages and decrease system demand, which can reduce peak demand charges and keep energy costs lower for customers over time.
The three new locations are the Chattanooga Police and Fire Services Center on Amnicola Highway, a former EPB substation near Chattanooga State also on Amnicola Highway and a new microgrid by our EPB Community Solar Share installation along Holtzclaw Avenue.
“The primary purpose of the microgrids at the Police and Fire Services Center and at Solar Share is to provide an added level of reliability redundancy beyond our existing distribution automation,” said Jim Glass, EPB Senior Manager with Smart Grid Development. “These two sites are critical to the safety and security of our community and this added level of reliability will serve our customers well.”
According to Glass, the battery installation near the Chattanooga State site will also provide an added level of reliability, but the primary purpose for this battery system is to reduce system demand and reduce peak demand charges.
By discharging the batteries into the local electric system during peak load times, EPB can reduce community-wide peak demand each month which reduces energy costs from TVA.
“This saves EPB money which helps us to keep rates lower for our customers over time,” said Glass. “In addition, it means that TVA does not have to use as much of its least efficient generation which in turn reduces carbon emissions in our region.”
EPB's first microgrid at the Chattanooga Airport has been a huge success. The technical and operational lessons learned there aid the groundwork for these three new battery storage centers to be added. EPB has preliminary plans to work with ORNL on additional microgrid sites in our service area.
Promoting solar at Rock City
To help reduce energy consumption and enhance educational opportunities at Rock City, EPB and Seven States Power Corporation installed a solar-powered arbor. Located near the guest entrance, the solar arbor generates 16,800 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy to help offset the environmental impact of the ticket booth.
That's enough energy to power 40 refrigerators or 3,200 cell phones for an entire year. The project enhances the availability of sustainable energy to the facility while also helping promote the use of solar energy to Rock City visitors. “EPB's partnership is part of our mission to help enhance quality of life for our customers by sharing our energy expertise, providing access to innovative energy solutions and promoting environmentally sustainable power generation,” said David Wade, EPB President & CEO.