The energy accounting exercise involves the establishment of an energy measurement system and preparation of energy balance related to the different responsibility areas, as explained in the previous sections. The exercise is highly data intensive as it involves a large number of feeders at the 11 kV and 0.4 kV level connected from different substations, with each feeder serving a large number of consumers of various categories.
Advanced IT technologies are helpful in the preparation of electrical network database and documentation and consolidation of consumer details, which are essential steps in energy accounting. Each consumer can be identified with the Distribution transformer through which s/he is fed, and then each Distribution transformer can be identified with the feeder on which the transformer is installed. In turn, each feeder can be identified with the substation from which electric supply is received. This could be done by giving one ‘Code No.’ to each consumer, which would be her/his ‘technical address’ on the bill. In addition, the bill should include the identification of meter reader and applicable tariffs.
The energy accounting would require constant review and modification to bring it to a stage and level wherein a reasonably true picture emerges.Considering the volume of data and nature of job, it would be necessary to computerise the energy accounting system to generate Management Information System (MIS) reports for different levels of management. This would facilitate remedial measures to improve billing. In medium and long term, it would facilitate to take systemic improvement measures. Computerised billing software placed at Division/sub-division level should be designed to capture the concept of tracking the consumer to the electrical network and meter reader. MIS reports of each feeder could be generated through suitable Financial Energy Management System software packages developed to meet specific needs of the circle. Some of the important features of the software could be as under:
feeder-wise/distribution transformer-wise loss;
equipment failure and interruption analyses for the feeder;
billing CGL ( Consumer General Ledger);
consumer analyses (kWh/kW); and
realisation index (Rs./kWh) for each category and feeder as a whole.
This would enable feeder-wise monitoring of activities and assessment of achievements vis-à-vis targets for loss reduction and revenue realisation. You may now like to know: Which software can be used for the
above-mentioned purposes?
All energy accounting software have the following features:
Organization/Site Records such as the name of the site, its address, and associated accounts and meters.
Billing and Climate Records, e.g., total monthly energy consumption and cost based on monthly utility bills for each fuel.
Reports and Graphs.
User Friendliness.
Documentation and Support.
We now present an example of computer software used for energy accounting.
LEAP
LEAP stands for Long Term Energy Alternatives Planning and is an accounting tool that balances production and consumption of energy. Just as assets have to equal liabilities in a financial balance sheet, supply has to equal demand in an energy balance. LEAP is deterministic in the sense that all outcomes are specified by the user. It is a “what if” tool in that it calculates the implications of a set of assumptions and tells the user what would happen if these were true.
Based on the assumptions provided by the user, LEAP balances the energy flow equations, thereby identifying the energy transformation and primary energy supply requirements. The requirements are back-calculated from a set of final energy demands, which form the “fixed” side of the first set of the equations of the accounting process. The entire energy system is (can be) included in the model and the level of detail is actually decided by the user.This means that the data requirements are mainly determined by the user’s preferences and can be made to fit the information that is available. Analysts in developing countries will find this particularly useful as good data tends to be a scarce commodity in these countries.
LEAP is also flexible in terms of the format of input data, which makes it easy to reconcile and compare data from various sources. Cost of fuels and capacity can also be included at the users’ discretion, as can environmental effects such as GHG emissions and pollution. The results can easily be viewed as graphs, charts or tables. The analysis is scenario based, which means that assumptions for a set of potential futures are compiled. Results are calculated by LEAP and then compared. The user can thus gain insight into how different decisions or events may affect the future. You will learn more about this and other software used by power utilities . We end this unit after a brief look at the future scenario.Future Scenario: Real Time Tariffs and Energy Accounting
As the electricity industry moves toward less regulation, time-of-use and other complex rates are likely to become more common. “Real-time pricing” may also become available, at least to large electricity users. With real-time pricing,what you pay per kW and per kWh will be based on what your utility pays for wholesale electricity. Wholesale prices vary based on supply and demand.
Customers will be notified hours in advance what the electricity prices will be.Based on this real time information, they could take appropriate action to reduce their energy use. Taking advantage of real-time pricing will require computerized energy and price tracking, as well as sophisticated control of equipment.
Advanced IT technologies are helpful in the preparation of electrical network database and documentation and consolidation of consumer details, which are essential steps in energy accounting. Each consumer can be identified with the Distribution transformer through which s/he is fed, and then each Distribution transformer can be identified with the feeder on which the transformer is installed. In turn, each feeder can be identified with the substation from which electric supply is received. This could be done by giving one ‘Code No.’ to each consumer, which would be her/his ‘technical address’ on the bill. In addition, the bill should include the identification of meter reader and applicable tariffs.
The energy accounting would require constant review and modification to bring it to a stage and level wherein a reasonably true picture emerges.Considering the volume of data and nature of job, it would be necessary to computerise the energy accounting system to generate Management Information System (MIS) reports for different levels of management. This would facilitate remedial measures to improve billing. In medium and long term, it would facilitate to take systemic improvement measures. Computerised billing software placed at Division/sub-division level should be designed to capture the concept of tracking the consumer to the electrical network and meter reader. MIS reports of each feeder could be generated through suitable Financial Energy Management System software packages developed to meet specific needs of the circle. Some of the important features of the software could be as under:
feeder-wise/distribution transformer-wise loss;
equipment failure and interruption analyses for the feeder;
billing CGL ( Consumer General Ledger);
consumer analyses (kWh/kW); and
realisation index (Rs./kWh) for each category and feeder as a whole.
This would enable feeder-wise monitoring of activities and assessment of achievements vis-à-vis targets for loss reduction and revenue realisation. You may now like to know: Which software can be used for the
above-mentioned purposes?
All energy accounting software have the following features:
Organization/Site Records such as the name of the site, its address, and associated accounts and meters.
Billing and Climate Records, e.g., total monthly energy consumption and cost based on monthly utility bills for each fuel.
Reports and Graphs.
User Friendliness.
Documentation and Support.
We now present an example of computer software used for energy accounting.
LEAP
LEAP stands for Long Term Energy Alternatives Planning and is an accounting tool that balances production and consumption of energy. Just as assets have to equal liabilities in a financial balance sheet, supply has to equal demand in an energy balance. LEAP is deterministic in the sense that all outcomes are specified by the user. It is a “what if” tool in that it calculates the implications of a set of assumptions and tells the user what would happen if these were true.
Based on the assumptions provided by the user, LEAP balances the energy flow equations, thereby identifying the energy transformation and primary energy supply requirements. The requirements are back-calculated from a set of final energy demands, which form the “fixed” side of the first set of the equations of the accounting process. The entire energy system is (can be) included in the model and the level of detail is actually decided by the user.This means that the data requirements are mainly determined by the user’s preferences and can be made to fit the information that is available. Analysts in developing countries will find this particularly useful as good data tends to be a scarce commodity in these countries.
LEAP is also flexible in terms of the format of input data, which makes it easy to reconcile and compare data from various sources. Cost of fuels and capacity can also be included at the users’ discretion, as can environmental effects such as GHG emissions and pollution. The results can easily be viewed as graphs, charts or tables. The analysis is scenario based, which means that assumptions for a set of potential futures are compiled. Results are calculated by LEAP and then compared. The user can thus gain insight into how different decisions or events may affect the future. You will learn more about this and other software used by power utilities . We end this unit after a brief look at the future scenario.Future Scenario: Real Time Tariffs and Energy Accounting
As the electricity industry moves toward less regulation, time-of-use and other complex rates are likely to become more common. “Real-time pricing” may also become available, at least to large electricity users. With real-time pricing,what you pay per kW and per kWh will be based on what your utility pays for wholesale electricity. Wholesale prices vary based on supply and demand.
Customers will be notified hours in advance what the electricity prices will be.Based on this real time information, they could take appropriate action to reduce their energy use. Taking advantage of real-time pricing will require computerized energy and price tracking, as well as sophisticated control of equipment.
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