Working with small businesses here in Helena on NorthWestern Energy and trying to set realistic efficiency benchmarks. Most of these are single-location operations - restaurants, retail stores, small offices. The national benchmarks seem way off for rural Montana. Our heating loads are massive compared to warmer climates, but cooling is minimal. How do you adjust benchmarks for climate and building age when working with smaller clients?
Small business benchmarking - what's realistic?
Marilyn, I focus more on year-over-year comparisons than national benchmarks for small businesses. Here in Spokane, I track each client against their own historical usage adjusted for weather and occupancy changes. A restaurant that uses 20% less electricity this January vs last January is doing well, even if they're still above some national average. Small businesses can't afford major retrofits so incremental improvements matter more.
For small retail here in Boise, I use regional peer groups instead of national benchmarks. Idaho Power provides usage data for similar business types in our service territory, which is much more relevant than comparing a Boise dress shop to stores in Miami. Also worth noting that older buildings (pre-1980) are going to use 30-50% more energy than newer construction no matter what you do.
The key with small businesses is identifying low-cost, high-impact changes rather than chasing benchmark numbers. I had a Memphis restaurant on MLGW that was way above benchmark but couldn't afford a major kitchen upgrade. Switched them to LED lighting and adjusted their HVAC schedules - saved $300/month for under $1,000 investment. Sometimes being "inefficient" by the numbers is still the right business decision.
Small businesses also have different usage patterns than the benchmark data assumes. A hair salon that's open Tuesday through Saturday has different peak demand than a standard retail store. I create custom baselines for each client based on their actual operating schedule rather than trying to fit them into generic categories. Works much better for identifying real problems versus normal operational differences.
All good points here. For small businesses, I focus on three simple metrics: cost per square foot, cost per employee, and demand factor efficiency. These give you actionable insights without getting lost in complex benchmarking models. A Montana restaurant using $2.50/sq ft annually might be perfectly reasonable given your climate, even if some national benchmark says it should be $1.80. Context matters more than raw numbers with smaller clients.