# Presentation: 012125

## Tricks of the trade for analysts in the energy biz

- Jonathan Koomey, Ph.D.
- numbers@numbersintoknowledge.com
- http://www.numbersintoknowledge.com
- Presented June 20, 2001 at Enron

## Preliminaries: Genesis of this course

- Names and introductions.
- Tim wanted a review of “energy math” and of the structure of the U.S. energy system.
- Turning Numbers into Knowledge deals with many key tricks of the trade.
- Class is still a bit experimental.
- Purpose is to help you “get it right” in a timely way.

## Introduction:  Philosophy

- It takes work to absorb tools, tricks, and data--there’s no substitute for organization, discipline, and focus.
- Know what you know, and what you don’t know.
- Get it 70-90% right while noting uncertainties and data holes (much better than getting 99% and being late).

## Put facts at your fingertips:  Key references and data sources

- Get organized--be systematic in your use of information.
- Put widely used sources within easy reach (build a personal library and data sheet).
- Make friends with a reference librarian.
- Statistical Abstract of the U.S., almanacs, web sources (see handout)

## Put facts at your fingertips: Documentation

- Always date your work, even your roughest handwritten notes. Put date / time stamp in footer of spreadsheets, and manuscripts.
- Stamp “Draft” and “Confidential”, as appropriate.
- Carefully document code and assumptions in spreadsheets.

## Understanding Data:  Pitfalls in data acquisition and handling

- Holdren’s four golden rules
- Avoid data that are mislabeled, ambiguous, badly documented, or otherwise of unclear pedigree
- Discard unreliable data that are invented, cooked, or incompetently created
- Beware of illusory precision
- Avoid spurious comparability.

## Understanding data: Techniques for success 

- Be skeptical of statistics, even official ones
- Self generation data in a restructured market
- CA electricity use (CEC estimate ≠ EIA estimate)
- Check for internal consistency
- Identify numbers that are too small or large.
- Read the footnotes.

## Understanding data: Techniques for success (p.2)

- Rounding errors (note different conventions)
- 91.4 = 91 when rounded.   2.4 = 2 when rounded.  The sum of the rounded numbers is 93,  but the sum of 91.4 and  2.4 = 94.
- Type data into the spreadsheet yourself.
- Check that totals = the sum of the subtotals.
- Check that the input data are correct and current (e.g., 1990s model using 1970s data)

## Understanding data: Techniques for success (p. 3)

- Check relationships between numbers that should be related in a predictable way.
- Compare the numbers to something else with which you are familiar, as a “sanity check”.
- Check that you can trace the calculation through from data to final results.

## Understanding data: Consistent comparisons

- Always note the year for dollars.
- Correct dollars for inflation (nominal vs. real)--see data sheet
- Use GDP deflator, CPI, or specialized indices
- Nominal interest rate = Real interest rate  + inflation
- Normalize numbers to make comparisons easier (per GDP, per capita, per physical unit [like kWh], or to a base year).

## Understanding data: Normalizing to a base year

## Back of the envelope calculations: Introduction

- You can figure out almost anything in an approximate way.  You may not believe it, but it’s true!
- Group exercise # 1:  Figure out how much electricity (kWh) was used for each home in the U.S. in 1999, using numbers you know, then calculate the total used by all U.S.households (in billion kWh)

## Back of the envelope calculations: Introduction (p.2)

- Group exercise #2:  How much gasoline is used in the U.S. for all light duty vehicles (passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks) in 1 year?  Give the answer in gallons, barrels, and quadrillion Btus per year.

## Back of the envelope calculations: Some key info

- deca = 10, k = kilo = Thousand = 1,000 = 103, M = mega = Million = 1,000,000 = 106, G = giga = Billion (except if you’re British) = 1,000,000,000 = 109, T = tera = Trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 = 1012, P = peta = Quadrillion = 1,000,000,000,000,000 = 1015, E = exa = Quintillion = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 1018
- Exponential notation: 102 = 100, 103 = 1,000.  The exponent equals the number of zeros.  This notation is also sometimes written 10e2.  So, kilo = 103, mega = 106, etc.  Note also that 100 = 1.

## First make a model, balancing accuracy against the time needed to create the calculation
Back of the envelope, spreadsheet, or code	
A simple model
Gas used per week (gallons) =
If a car gets 20 mpg in normal use, for a 1000 mile trip, the simple estimate is that the car will use 50 gallons.

- Back of the envelope, spreadsheet, or code
- A simple model
- Gas used per week (gallons) =
- If a car gets 20 mpg in normal use, for a 1000 mile trip, the simple estimate is that the car will use 50 gallons.

- Back of the envelope calculations: General approach

## BOE calculations: A more complex model

- If a 1000 mile trip doesn’t have same highway/city split as normal use, must rely on the 2d model
- Gas/week (gals) =
- assuming 15 mpg city, 25 mpg highway, 95:5 split between highway and city driving, yields 41.3 gallons
- Assumptions about how many miles driven are *buried* in the first model.  There are *always* buried assumptions

## BOE calculations: some parting advice

- Once you’ve made a model, plug in the numbers you know, and make assumptions for those you don’t know.
- Don’t get hung up on a particular number!  Set up the calculation and get data later.
- Don’t be afraid to approximate to speed things up (e.g., to divide 4000 by 35, divide 3500 by 35 instead to get 100).

## BOE calculations: More tips

- Bound the problem
- Plug in high and low estimates for key parameters
- Combine all high estimates in one scenario, and all low estimates in another
- Test sensitivity of each variable in analysis to arbitrary changes in inputs
- Create a data sheet, and memorize key conversion factors (handout)
- Understand commonly used units (Quads, TWh, joules, Mbtus, MMBtus, kW vs kWh)

## BOE calculations: Unit analysis

- You can always multiply some number by 1 without changing its value.
- Example:  1 kWh = 3412 Btus.  The ratio of 1kWh/3412 Btus = 1.0, so if I have 100 kWh, that is equivalent to 100 kWh * 3412 Btus/1 kWh = 341,200 Btus.  In that equation, the kWhs cancel, yielding Btus.

## BOE calculations: Unit analysis (p.2)

- What is a Watt, and why does kWh have hours in it?
- 1 Watt = 1 Joule/second
- A watt is a rate of flow, like gallons of water per hour.  A watt-hour is the amount of energy if a 1 Watt power drain continues for 1 hour (it’s like the water that collects in the tub, in gallons).
- So if a 1 gallon per minute flow rate continues for 1 hour, there will be 60 gallons of water in the tub after 1 hour.  If a 1000 W load continues for 1 hour, then 1000 Wh (1 kWh) will be used (i.e., will be “in the tub”).

## BOE calculations: Unit analysis (p.3) and concluding remarks

- Let’s show that 1 kW = 1000 J/s:
-                                                 =1 kW
- Let’s convert 1 kWh to Joules to prove kWh is an energy unit:
-                                                    = 3.6 MJ
- •	You can estimate almost anything!

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Introduction

- Everyone in this industry needs to have a basic understanding the production and use of energy in the U.S.
- U.S. is the world’s largest energy user, and one of the largest energy producers.
- The U.S. is also one of the largest importers of energy.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Major events

- 1973--Arab Oil Embargo
- 1979-80--Iranian revolution, CAFE stds
- 1986--Oil price decline
- 1992--Energy Policy Act
- 1987-2001--Efficiency standards, energy Star programs.
- 2000-2001--Oil & gas price hikes, electricity crisis in CA and the West.

## Major oil supply disruptions

- Of course, these would be best viewed normalized as a % of total world consumption.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Lessons from history

- Forecasting is tough, but scenarios can help (Royal Dutch Shell in 1970s)
- Energy demand and GDP need not grow in lock step
- Demand-side technologies and programs can save energy at a cost that is typically half of the cost of supplying that energy.

## The Brownian Random Walk of World Real Oil Price, 1881–1993

***The Brownian Random Walk of World Real Oil Price, 1881–1993***

***Year-to-year percentage price changes with a one-year lag between the axes. If the price movements showed a trend, the “center of gravity” would***

***favor a particular******quadrant. All that******happened after 1973 is that volatility tripled; changes stayed perfectly random,******just as for any other commodity.***

***Graph devised by H.R. Holt, USDOE; presented by Rocky Mountain Institute, www.rmi.org © RMI 2001***

- Graph used courtesy of Amory B. Lovins, RMI

## Energy use per capita and per GDP

## Efficiency is cheaper than supply

- Potential Electricity Savings from High-Efficiency Case in 2010

## Historical U.S. energy use by fuel

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Energy flows in the U.S. in 1999 (Quadrillion Btus, or Quads)

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: A subtlety about electricity

- When converting electricity use from kWh to Btus, for comparison to other energy forms, you can use two different methods:
- Site energy (measured at the customer’s meter using a conversion factor of 3412 Btus/kWh)
- Source energy (including the generation, transmission, and distribution losses), resulting in a conversion factor that is typically 10,500 Btus/kWh (though this varies by power plant).

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: A subtlety about fuels

- There are two ways to measure heat content of fuels: Lower heating value (LHV) and higher heating value (HHV)
- LHV eliminates from the heat content the heat needed to evaporate moisture in the fuel, while HHV includes that heat content.
- Efficiencies measured using LHV are 5-10% higher for fuel fired power plants than using HHV
- Make sure both efficiency and prices are consistent.
- US uses HHV, Europe uses LHV, typically.

## Energy flows in the U.S. natural gas sector in 1999 (Quads)

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: An exercise

- Group exercise #3:  A typical U.S. home that is heated by natural gas uses about 100 MMBtu (million Btu)/year.  How much gas is that at standard temperature and pressure? How does that volume compare to that of a typical house?

## Energy flows in the U.S. petroleum sector in 1999 (Quads)

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Prices

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Res. natural gas costs

- Total delivered  nominal natural gas cost to residences in 2000 = $0.96/therm

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: U.S. criteria air pollutants

- Fugitive dust

- Carbon monoxide

- Nitrogen oxides

- Organic compounds

- Sulfur dioxide

- Particulate matter

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: U.S. carbon emissions

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Forecasts

- The official source of U.S. energy forecasts is the Energy Information Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy (http://www.eia.doe.gov)
- Consult the EIA web site for their truly outstanding and colossal collection of publicly available data.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Consumption forecasts

- Note:  Hydro is relatively small on the National scale, but is very important in the Northwest.

## Summary of the U.S. energy system: Price forecasts

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Introduction

- U.S. is the world’s largest electricity producer and user
- The U.S. electricity system is still one of the most reliable and cost effective in the world (CA problems notwithstanding).
- Power systems vary greatly by region.

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Major events

- Early 1900s--competitive market with multiple providers (duplication led to appreciation of natural monopoly status and the regulatory compact--obligation to serve, geographic monopoly, regulation of rates).
- Economies of scale in generation reduced costs until about 1970, then costs went up.
- 1978 PUR_x0008__x0008_PA, implemented early 1980s (SO_x0008_4 in CA)_x0008_--Deregulation of generation.

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Major events (continued)

- 1987 to mid-1990s, Heyday of utility DSM
- Early to mid-1990s, realization that generation might not be a natural monopoly any more (T&D still is, of course)
- In 1992 EPACT deregulated transmission (also FERC order 888 opened T up)
- Retail restructuring in mid to late-1990s, sometimes successful, sometimes not
- 2000-2001+, CA power crisis

## High Electricity Prices Were a Strong Driver for Retail Restructuring - 1993

**High Electricity Prices Were a Strong Driver for Retail Restructuring - 1993**

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Lessons from history

- Forecasting is tough, but some techniques (e.g., end-use analysis) are better than others (Huss at Northeast utilities analyzed this)
- Electricity  demand and GDP need not grow in lock step, though the connection is stronger than for primary energy and GDP.
- Demand-side technologies and programs can save electricity at a cost that is typically half of the cost of supplying that energy.

## Electricity Consumption Per CA GDP and Per Capita

**source: California Energy Commission**

- Per capita

- Per GDP

## Summary of U.S. electricity system: History lessons (cont.)

- Mass-produced technologies can achieve economies of scale more quickly than can site-built technologies
- Non-utility generation can make major contributions to installed capacity

## Cost of mass produced vs. site built generation technologies

- Sources:  Energy Information Administration, California Energy Commission, and other sources, compiled by Jonathan G. Koomey and Nate Hultman, LBNL (JGKoomey@lbl.gov, 510/486-5974)

## Investor-Owned Utility Investment in Generation Declined in the 1980’s

## Energy flows in the U.S. electricity sector in 1999 (Quads)

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Energy flows in the U.S. coal sector in 1999 (Quads)

- Source:  U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. DOE, *Annual Energy Review 1999*.

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: An exercise

- Group exercise #4:  How big a pile of coal (in cubic meters) is burned by a typical 1000 MWe baseload power plant in one year? (Hint:  Don’t forget the capacity factor)

## Electricity reliability regions

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Peak demand

- U.S. Peak demand = 690 GW in 2000

## Slide 57

## Summary of U.S. electricity system: WSCC demand and capacity

## Summary of the U.S. electricity system: Power plant heat rates

- Heat rates measured efficiency of power plants, and in the U.S. are often expressed in Btus/kWh
- I also express heat rates as a unitless ratio of energy in/energy out (multiply by 3412 to get the more familiar HR in Btus/kWh)
- Watch out for LHV vs. HHV!

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Typical power plant heat rates

- Heat rates for fuels measured using lower heating value.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: U.S. electric generation--2000

- Total U.S. generation in 2000 is 3400 TWh, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: U.S. electric capacity--2000

- Total U.S. capacity in 2000 is 750 GW, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: U.S. cogeneration--2000

- Total U.S. cogeneration in 2000 is 310 TWh

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC electric generation--2000

- Total WSCC generation in 2000 is 620 TWh, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC electric capacity--2000

- Total WSCC capacity in 2000 is 140 GW, not including cogeneration

## WSCC Trading Hubs and Transmission Lines

- NP-15

- Palo
- Verde

- Four
- Corners

- BC
- Hydro

- Alberta
- Pool

-      Mid
- Columbia

- 3200

- 4800

- 3000

- 4800

- 1250

- NOB

-  COB

- 3200

- SP-15

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC /SW generation--2000

- Total WSCC/SW generation in 2000 is 150 TWh, not including cogeneration

- Note:  SW includes the Rocky Mountain States and Arizona.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC/SW capacity--2000

- Total WSCC/SW capacity in 2000 is 30 GW, not including cogeneration

- Note:  SW includes the Rocky Mountain States and Arizona.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC/NW generation--2000

- Total WSCC/NW generation in 2000 is 260 TWh, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC/NW capacity--2000

- Total WSCC/NW capacity in 2000 is 53 GW, not including cogeneration

## Columbia Basin Map

## Slide 72

## Slide 73

## BOE calculations: One more exercise

- Group Exercise # 5:  How many acre-feet does a typical U.S. household use per year to take showers? How many gallons and acre-feet is that for the U.S. as a whole?

## Disco & Utility Service Territories

**SCE**

**PG&E**

**SDG&E**

**LADWP**

**source: California Energy Commission**

**PG&E**

**PC ORP**

**SMUD**

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC/CA&NV generation--2000

- Total WSCC/CA&NV generation in 2000 is 210 TWh, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: WSCC/CA&NV capacity--2000

- Total WSCC/CA&NV capacity in 2000 is 56 GW, not including cogeneration

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Load characteristics

- What’s a load factor?  LF =
- Typical LFs are 50-60% for utility systems.  Industrial LFs are higher, residential LFs are lower.  Res. cooling LF can be 5-15%.
- Load factors are a simple way to understand peak demand issues for a particular utility, sector, subsector, or end-use

## CA peak day load shape 1999

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Load characteristics (p. 2)

- Peak vs. avg MW.  One average MW for 1 year = 8760 MWh.  Over one month = 730 MWh (a MW-month).
- Peak period definition.  If peak period is 10 hours per day, a peak MW is equivalent to 10 MWh/day.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Load characteristics (p. 3)

- Typical definition of peak period in WSCC is from 0700 to 2300, 6 days per week (16 hours per day),
- A peak MW in WSCC is therefore equivalent to 16 MWh per day or about 420 MWh/month.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Load duration curves (LDCs)

- Rank order hourly loads starting from the highest to the lowest, assuming independence.
- Stack supply resources up to fill the area under the curve, starting with the lowest marginal cost resources first.
- LDCs were originally developed for computational convenience, but they are still useful conceptual constructs.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Prices

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Levelized costs of generation

- Need to calculate busbar costs for rough estimates.
- Annualize capital costs (like a mortgage)
- Add in fuel, O&M, and emissions trading costs
- Don’t forget T&D losses to get to delivered costs at the meter.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Calculating levelized cost

- Levelized Cost =

- CRF (capital recovery factor) also =

- n = lifetime, r = interest rate

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Calculating levelized cost (p.2)

- Fuel cost
- Capital cost of $500/kW, using CRF = 0.1, fixed O&M of $30/kW/year, 91.3% CF
- Add variable O&M of $0.005/kWh
- Then add cost of NOx permits.

- =$0.032/kWh

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Calculating levelized cost (p.3)

- Externality cost =
- Total delivered cost of power =

- =$0.003/kWh

- $0.032 + 0.01 + 0.005 + 0.003 = $0.05/kWh

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Costs of power to CA residences

- Total electricity price for CA residences is about $0.12/kWh in 2000

- Distribution from Jon Koomey’s utility bill, January 2001

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Introduction to forecasting

- Forecasts are used
- For planning (either institutional or personal
- For advocacy (to raise awareness of an issue)
- For research (to explore the future)
- All forecasts are wrong in some respect, but they are usually still valuable
- Systemize an investigation into future choices.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Background on forecasting

- Most basic forecasts are econometric or trend based, using simple extrapolation or regressions on historical data.
- These techniques are notoriously inaccurate for energy demand forecasting, except for short term projections.
- Inaccuracy of econometric forecasts in the 1970s and early 1980s led to widespread use of the “end-use” approach in the U.S. by the late 1980s.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasts vs. scenarios

- A forecast is a prediction of how the future WILL unfold.
- A scenario is a story of how the future MIGHT unfold if certain events come to pass (there is always more than one scenario) .
- Scenarios are used for making decisions in the face of uncertainty (example:  Royal Dutch Shell in the early 1970s).

## US Primary Energy Consumption Is Now Within 2% of the 1976 “Soft Energy Path”

- Graph used courtesy of Amory B. Lovins, RMI

## Summary of U.S. electricity: More on scenarios

- Tell stories using scenarios to help develop your intuition about the key driving forces affecting the future.
- Develop strategies that are robust in the face of inevitably imperfect forecasts (e.g., build-to-order manufacturing).

## The Golden Rules of Scenario Analysis

- Models can be useful, but the focus should be on data development and scenario creation, NOT modeling. Models always lag the state of knowledge about new energy resources.
- Watch out for the unexpected!

## Gas Spot Price at PG&E Citygate for 2000

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Exponential growth

- Many phenomena grow exponentially for part of their life cycle.
- Characterized by an annual growth rate, say 2% per year
- Exponential growth can be powerful over the long term (retirement planning--20 year old vs 30 year old)

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Exponential growth (p. 2)

- A key trick of the trade -- “the rule of 70”.
- For any annual growth rate, (e.g., 2% /yr), you can calculate the time for something growing at that rate to double, by dividing 70 by the growth rate (doubling time = 35 yrs)
- Can use doubling times to do quick calculations when the data don’t warrant more detailed work or if you don’t have time

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasting exercise

- Group Exercise # 6:  Some have claimed that electricity used by office equipment is about 13% of all electricity use now, and that it will grow to half of all electricity use in 20 years.  The same folks are claiming that all electricity use will grow 3.5% per year for 20 years, and that most of that growth will be due to increased electricity used by office equipment.  Are these claims internally consistent? (note, these claims are not correct, but that’s another story).  Total electricity use in the U.S. in 1999 was about 3300 billion kWh.

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Another exercise (for after class)

- Find a forecast on a topic you care about (doesn’t have to be electricity), and learn how it was created.  Talk to the author and read any supporting documentation.  Do you still find it plausible?

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasted electricity generation

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasted electricity sales

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasted electricity price

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasted generator fuel costs

## Summary of U.S. electricity: Forecasted generation costs

## Conclusions/wrap up

- Be deliberate, systematic, and methodical in how you use and present information.
- Value your time and that of others—your time is your life, so make it count.
- Questions or comments?  Email me at numbers@numbersintoknowledge.com