June 2020 EFFICIENT ELECTRIFICATION The recent months have been unprecedented as the world continues to deal with the impacts of COVID-19. The EPRI team remains committed to the health and safety of our employees and members, and to providing the R&D and information needed to support the generation, transmission, and delivery of safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible electric power in the U.S. and beyond. Meanwhile, we continue to share results from electrification research and in-the-field electrification applications. In this issue of Efficient Electrification, you can learn about: • Research by EPRI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the use of ultraviolet light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for disinfection. FEATURED VIDEO • Barriers to building electrification (such as product design, high Recognizing Those Who Keep The Lights On costs, and customer preferences) and how EPRI and others are As electric utilities around the world work around the clock to creatively addressing them. meet customers’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, EPRI • A program at Southern California Edison to lend induction recognizes the unwavering commitment of the hard-working cooktops to customers so they can experience (and quantify) men and women who keep the lights on every day. the benefits. • How electrified process heating can help make industrial IN THIS ISSUE facilities more efficient and productive. • ELECTRIFICATION IN ACTION • How power companies across the U.S. are using test kitchens SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT to demonstrate the benefits of replacing natural gas equipment • with electric equipment to restaurants and other commercial • FEATURE customers. • ELECTRIFICATION INNOVATION Stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you for your continued • ELECTRIFICATION IN THE NEWS collaboration. Top News | Other News | Upcoming Events EPRI Resources | EPRI in the News ELECTRIFICATION IN ACTION How to Overcome Barriers to Building Electrification Your natural gas water heater breaks on Friday morning, and you see in hotels.” need to replace it before your weekend visitors arrive Saturday. What “Swamp coolers are essentially fans that blow water, so we to do? There’s no time to research products and shop around for a were just using the power for a fan and repurposing it,” added more efficient heater, such as an electric heat pump water heater, Narayanamurthy. “That’s pretty innovative because normally heat especially when many products must be special-ordered by your pumps require a lot more power.” local home improvement store. Identify Creative Ways to Address Customer Needs Such emergency replacements are common and are one of numerous barriers to equipping existing or new buildings with Customer preferences can hinder building electrification. electric appliances as part of efforts to improve energy efficiency. “Homeowners may prefer cooking with natural gas stoves,” said Narayanamurthy. “Or they like how natural gas heat warms their EPRI Technical Executive Ram Narayanamurthy has encountered house quickly. Some people may need time to get used to the these barriers during his field research on building electrification slow, steady heat of electric heat pumps. For consumers switching and advanced energy communities that integrate multiple customer from natural gas heating to electric heat pumps, installing better resources, such as energy efficiency, demand response, connected insulation could reduce the need for the instant heat that natural gas devices, energy storage, solar or other on-site generation, electric provides. And for the utility, insulating homes can reduce or avoid vehicles, and other electrification technologies. The communities are spikes in power demand from electric resistance elements included intended to advance social and utility goals such as decarbonization, in heat pumps.” grid hardening, and grid support while enabling comfort, convenience, and affordability for customers. EPRI is assisting in the technical aspects of numerous advanced energy communities in California and beyond. Design Customer-Friendly Products EPRI brings Another barrier to building electrification is product design. “New products may not fit in old spaces or may be difficult to install,” said Narayanamurthy. “Manufacturers could support outreach a wealth of R&D and education for consumers. They can also design easy-to-install devices.” and technical Old buildings, especially those designed to run on natural gas, may not have enough breakers in the electrical panel to accommodate new loads from water heaters, electric vehicle charging, and HVAC expertise to the systems. Adding the necessary amperage can cost $2,500 or more. “If the electrical panel in your house has 200 amperes, then you have a pretty good shot at electrifying,” said Narayanamurthy. “If it has table 100, you may need to upgrade.” Andrew Brooks As part of efforts to inform better product design, Narayanamurthy’s Association for Energy Affordability team developed guidance for manufacturing heat pump water heaters that can plug into standard 120-volt outlets. Most heat pumps and heat pump water heaters need 240-volt outlets, which may require electrical panel upgrades. The team also is investigating ways to heat and cool homes with low power-draw systems. Address High Costs In a low-income community in Fresno, California, EPRI replaced Capital and installation costs of new electric technologies can be swamp coolers (units that cool air by evaporative cooling) with more high—and out of reach for middle- and low-income customers. efficient 110-volt heat pumps made in Italy. “At first, we had to train Early adopters tend to have disposable income for these purchases. local contractors on how to install them,” said Narayanamurthy. “But According to Narayanamurthy, one long-term solution would be to now contractors are telling us that it’s actually easier to install than update state building codes so that they require new buildings to be standard HVAC units, especially for multi-family housing. Standard electrification-ready. A short-term solution for existing buildings: heat pumps are split-system units where you have one piece inside, explore direct-install programs for affordable housing residents who one piece outside, and ducts running around the home. Our new can’t afford the upgrades. strategy eliminates having to add ducts and multiple elements inside The Association for Energy Affordability (AEA) helps owners of and outside. Instead, you have a single package similar to what you multi-family housing in low-income communities implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The nonprofit “Some electricity rate structures charge more per unit at higher organization’s team of engineers, architects, and other experts use levels. In these cases, the power industry could consider conduct energy audits, model the energy savings and other benefits ways to make electricity more affordable for customers,” said of various electrification retrofits, and present building owners with Narayanamurthy. “In one of their affordable housing projects in a list of options. Incentives may cover anywhere from 30% to 90% of Ontario, California, AEA found that they could reduce electric bills the project cost, with the balance covered by the owners. even after electrification by adding insulation, replacing windows, and replacing old air conditioners with today’s efficient heat pumps.” Each project has unique needs and solutions. In one case, the building owner wanted to replace all the natural gas water heaters EPRI and AEA plan to collaborate on advanced energy communities, with electric heat pump water heaters, but the building did not have with EPRI facilitating connections with local utilities. Topics for sufficient electrical capacity. The team worked with the contractors investigation include air quality impacts of electrification and large- to develop a hybrid system that used heat pump water heaters scale electrification in low-income communities. roughly 90% of the time and then switched to the natural gas water “EPRI brings a wealth of R&D and technical expertise to the table,” heater only during times of peak water use. said Brooks. “They will be taking the lessons and best practices from Depending on local rate structures, transitioning from natural gas our projects and sharing them with the utility industry and other to electricity could increase tenants’ utility bills. To prevent this, stakeholders.” AEA always combines electrification work with other measures such “Brooks and the AEA are doing valuable work,” Narayanamurthy as energy efficiency and solar. In one project, lighting and other said. “Usually the latest electric technologies go into the high-end electrical energy efficiency measures decreased the building’s markets and then trickle down. What they’re trying to do is flip that electric load (and costs) while switching from a natural gas water on its head.” heater to an electric water heater boosted load. Before the changes were implemented, modeling confirmed that they would not increase The partners recently received a large award from the California bills. Energy Commission to study, deploy, and scale innovative water heating strategies in multifamily communities. “We only move forward with the work when we are sure that tenant bills are not going to be negatively impacted,” said Andrew Brooks, To learn more about addressing barriers to building electrification, who directs west coast operations for AEA. contact