Minimizing Power Costs by taking Advantage of Real Time Power Pricing, Justification of Storage and Treatment Capacity to Minimize Energy Costs

The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of electrical energy Real Time Pricing (RTP) on a water reclamation facility's energy costs and to compare those costs with the facility's ability to shift loads during the course of operation to maximize the facility's use of energy during off peak hours. This project will also look into the cost of building on-site storage as well as additional treatment capacity in order to process higher flow rates during the off peak hours.Monitoring power usage in the facility will provide the data needed to determine the level at which cost incentives make it desirable to shift energy loads. The facility involved in this project already has considerable storage and excess treatment capacity available which allows for full scale testing of these scenarios. The facility being studied has the ability to off load flow from multiple points in the process as well as to return the off-loaded flow back to multiple locations in the process. Operating the facility in this manner will cause the facility to incur some energy cost in order to pump off-loaded water from storage back into the process. This investigation will examine these additional energy costs and determine at what differential power cost it becomes beneficial to the overall costs of facility operation.