Tumalow Energy Aims to Reshape Energy Consumption

Within the first few minutes of watching a presentation from Tumalow Energy, Inc.’s founder, Will Gathright, I knew I needed to know more.

It was one sentence, in particular, that struck me: “There is no energy crisis. There is a power crisis.” Was this fellow dreadfully misinformed? Had he just woken up from a decades sleep Rip Van Winkle style?

The answer to both of these questions is quite simply, “no.”

Quite the contrary, Mr. Gathright is only too familiar with the realities of today’s energy woes. He possesses an intimate understanding of the power grid and why, is essence, it’s failing us. He also has an inspiring solution: peak shaving through automated battery storage optimization and frequency regulation, which can more than double the revenue of stand alone peak-shaving systems.

Peak Shaving and LEED

Now, certainly, peak shaving is not some shiny new concept. In fact, it’s widely regarded as a best practice in energy saving, though its adoption rate has been curiously slow. Essentially, peak shaving is the process of reducing the amount of energy purchased from a utility company during peak hours, when the charges are highest.

For example, during the summer months, the highest points for demand are between 3:00PM and 8:00PM, when most consumers are home engaging in energy consuming activities and running their air conditioners. During these high demand periods, the consumer cost of energy rises, sometimes significantly. Consequently, when organizations are able to reduce their reliance on external energy sources during such periods, they’re able to capitalize on significant dollar savings – especially so for commercial buildings.

Peak shaving is being built into many appliances today. Some of you may have a dishwasher or other "white good" that has a 4-5 hour delay timer option built in. This is specifically designed to allow you to set the machine to go off after you're asleep when energy rates are lower.

Peak shaving is also built into green building rating systems, such as LEED. Indeed, LEED's "Big Kahuna" in terms of points that can be earned is in a credit called "Optimize Energy Efficiency". Optimize energy efficiency focuses on the reduction in energy cost, not BTUs, kWh or Therms. Because utilities charge more money for peak energy usage, LEED's approach encourages buildings to reduce their peak energy usage. Since buildings may have more than one source of fuel, electricity or natural gas, LEED compares apples to apples by measuring the total dollar value of energy saved and compares it against a baseline.

Tumalow energy has recognized this is a significant opportunity and has developed a software solution that optimizes energy consumption for buildings that possess on-site energy storage (i.e., batteries) through a complex algorithm, which doesn’t just automate the on/off switches – it actually sells back excess energy into the market.

This description of Tumalow's software and services process from Will Gathright's and Tumalow Energy's LinkedIn page describes Frequency Regulation (FR) as a grid service that matches the second-to-second differences between supply and demand on the grid. Using energy storage to perform FR means following a charge/discharge signal in exchange for payment. The payment is determined by a competitive bid.

“This is the holy grail,” Gathwright tells me, “Having storage cited on the customer site that gives it the most value and most control. In the future, I think there will be a battery in nearly every building in America. This solution is fundamentally altering the way that the grid is structured.”

Currently, Tumalow is targeting mid-size commercial and industrial sites with 1-3 megawatts for peak load in the PJM energy district (mid-Atlantic). They are currently running live testing in multiple buildings and actively seeking venture capital investments.

Interested in learning more about this innovative solution? Visit Tumalow Energy, Inc. here!