Energy costs keep rising for commercial users – take control with EMS / BMS

For consumers of energy in the United States, figure 1 (below) makes grim reading. Over the past decade, the kilowatt/hour price of electricity has consistently, notwithstanding a few brief interruptions, risen. And that trend is not expected to change in the foreseeable future. According to the US Energy Information Administration^[1] (EIA), sales of electricity are forecasted to increase again this year by 2% and by another 1% in 2025. The EIA expects electricity consumption will grow in all major consuming sectors while costs continue to climb.

Figure 1: Source: US Energy Information Administration^[2]

Grasping the wave

Why is this happening? There are many reasons why energy rates have risen and continue to do so and it’s worth taking the time to at least briefly understand them. Generally, prices are influenced by a range of factors including market dynamics, geopolitical events, supply and demand dynamics, weather conditions, regulatory changes, and others. More specifically, over the past decade the US energy market has been exposed to:

• All-too-familiar global political and economic tensions impacting supply and resulting energy rates.

• The political push to transition from fossil to renewable energy sources has often led to price increases as increased regulation diminishes opportunity and financial incentives to deploy new infrastructure.

• Transportation costs (for instance, the cost of shipping fuels or transmitting electricity) have sharply risen over the past decade, particularly affecting areas where infrastructure constraints exist.

• The investment currently required for new energy infrastructure (especially related to renewable energy) affects supply, production costs, and efficiency ultimately leading to higher prices.

Of course, there are other reasons and price behavior does depend on the underlying type of energy being observed. Nevertheless, the broad statement that “energy prices are rising” holds true and has done so over the past decade as the evidence proves.

For energy users, all is not lost!

That’s the bad news out of the way. The good news is, there are many steps commercial consumers of energy can take to reduce or mitigate the increased costs they face. Let’s look at just a few varied examples of how:

2. They can use data to get smart: Energy and Building Management Systems (EMS/BMS) and technologies, such as NexRev Freedom, can generate data that enables the building to become what we now call “smart”. That happens through analytics technology, the refining of raw data to accrue actionable insights from large pools of raw data. Informed decisions on building management should be analytics-driven and if they are, they will confer widespread benefits that include (and go beyond) reducing energy costs and usage.
3. They can use less energy: Reducing energy consumption obviously matters. Installation of a EMS/BMS such as Freedom allows for multi-site visibility, reporting, and control of lighting systems, HVAC controllers, and IoT sensors. This ability to automatically control systems and push bulk schedule changes to your entire portfolio reduces unnecessary usage of energy.
4. They can optimize systems and equipment. In addition to adding new tools like an EMS/BMS system referenced above, organizations can also look to optimize systems and equipment they already have in place. For example, NexRev DrivePak™ is a technology that is retrofitted to existing rooftop unit HVACs (RTUs) and enables effective speed control of fan blower motors. Doing so provides facilities managers, building managers, and others with sizable energy savings in addition to reduced wear on their machines, increased power factors, and humidity control.

There are many other steps organizations can take to lower their costs. Energy prices may be rising, but commercial enterprises need not be hapless victims of an unavoidable fate!

Talk to NexRev

To learn more about what you can do to mitigate the impact of continued rising energy prices, why not talk to NexRev?

At NexRev, we’ve been unlocking the power of facility and energy management data with over a million connected devices across North America. Our team of experts is focused on helping you deliver more with your budgets, infrastructure, and assets to create sustainable savings in operations and energy, reducing your risk and increasing operational confidence.

To begin a discussion on how we can help you to reduce energy waste please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

^[1] https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/elec_coal_renew.php

^[2] https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/