Clean Energy: A Fresh Look at Old Ideas –
by Chris Clark, Nexamp, Director of Advisory Services
In the face of challenging economic times and a rapidly evolving federal policy landscape, businesses are taking a hard look at new strategies to reduce their operating costs. For many, the way they use energy is a primary focus of their attention. What they are finding is that investments in clean energy are not only capable of reducing their top line expenses, but can provide an attractive bottom-line return for years to come.
The moniker “clean energy” is far reaching in its application. Clean energy encompasses tried and true energy efficiency activities, such as lighting retrofits and equipment upgrades, aimed at reducing energy consumption and associated costs. It also includes renewable energy, like solar photovoltaic and wind power technologies, which generate electricity from resources that are naturally replenished and inexhaustible. Finally, clean energy incorporates improved energy management practices, such as monitoring energy usage in real time to highlight operational inefficiencies. In all cases, the multiple spokes of the clean energy umbrella are inexorably linked by the common goal of cost reduction. To a growing extent, objectives tied to sustainability and reduced greenhouse gas emissions are also becoming important considerations.
Opportunities for businesses to profit from clean energy investments are buoyed by a new wave of aggressive government and utility incentives that effectively buy down the cost of these technologies, making them attractive and profitable to organizations that implement them. However, for most businesses the challenge of navigating the potpourri of energy incentives and new technologies to find the best opportunities is a daunting task. The situation is exacerbated by a vendor landscape populated by specialized subject matter experts, such as energy service companies that only do lighting retrofits and renewable energy integrators that only install solar technology.
To address these shortcomings in the marketplace, we are seeing the rise of a new entrant in the energy business space – the comprehensive, full-services energy solutions provider. The energy solutions provider helps clients identify the most appropriate energy technologies for their given situation, taking into account their particular building infrastructure, utility costs, and business practices. Unlike its incumbent predecessors in the energy marketplace, the modern energy solutions company is solution agnostic, and bound neither to technology nor equipment vendor. The energy solutions provider is nimble, capable of adapting to and integrating new technologies as soon as they are market ready. Likewise, the energy solutions company is focused on customer-service, handling all aspects of the project cycle, from technology evaluation to design and permitting to installation.
As organizations increasingly recognize that long-term success is linked to their ability to efficiently feed their energy hunger, integrated energy solutions companies are fulfilling an important role. That role includes working with clients not only to identify appropriate technologies, but to fully understand the business case for their implementation. It means developing tools and strategies for communicating at the board level, and providing information beyond simple payback. Internal rate of return, income tax treatment, and long-term energy hedging are just a sampling of the topics frequently broached by decision-makers considering clean energy investments. These are the variables around which businesses are formulating multi-year master energy plans, as they desire to hedge against the uncertainty of future energy price increases and the growing certainty of a forthcoming carbon regime.
The future demands a sea change in the way businesses think about, evaluate, and ultimately act upon their energy needs. The current paradigm of energy as an afterthought and piecemeal energy planning is likely to give way to comprehensive, proactive energy management, as companies demand access to more information about the way they use and value energy. A new breed of energy solutions companies stands ready to meet this need
Nexamp is a full service clean energy solutions company. Nexamp analyzes, designs, finances, builds and maintains clean energy projects that reduce energy costs and carbon emissions for businesses, governments, and homeowners. Our solutions include renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy management. Nexamp combines energy project construction experience with expertise in energy technology ,building science, markets, finance, and policy to make clean energy simple and profitable for our clients.
