Businesses are constantly striving to increase productivity and enhance their competitiveness in the global marketplace. In many cases, electrification—the application of novel, energy-efficient electric technologies as alternatives to fossil-fueled or non-energized processes—can boost productivity and improve the product quality of end-use utility customers. A lack of familiarity and experience with technologies impedes many enterprises from pursuing electrification measures. Such customers would benefit from information and support from their electric utility.
EPRI has performed a high-level assessment of achievable potential for a suite of residential, commercial, industrial, and commercial and industrial electric transportation (C&I ET) electric technologies. The assessment involves identifying applications, benefits, and barriers for the technologies, along with estimating the potential utility impacts of these technologies. This report describes Task 3 of the study—Utility-level Electrification Assessment & Implementation Plan—and focuses on opportunities in PPL’s service territory, including strategies to overcome market barriers. A portfolio of electric technologies may be considered for beneficial load growth considering both technologies that have quick payback and those that provide customers with highly valuable non-energy benefits.
The report provides a summary of these beneficial technologies with a focus on the customer perspective, including provision of key applications, benefits, market barriers, and strategies for overcoming primary market barriers. It also provides an assessment of customer cost-effectiveness considering local energy prices, and an estimate of the potential impacts of growing adoption of electric technologies for a utility perspective on electrification.