Got a strange one here in San Antonio. Mid-size hotel (180 rooms) on CPS Energy showing 60% higher usage than industry benchmarks. Load factor is normal at 0.65, power factor good at 0.96. Been through the rate schedule (GP-2) and everything looks correct. Occupancy rates are typical for the market. Anyone seen similar anomalies with hotel properties? Starting to think there might be an HVAC issue but owner swears the system was just serviced.
CPS Energy anomaly - hotel using 60% more than benchmark
Angela - have you looked at the hot water system? Hotels are notorious for inefficient water heating that doesn't show up in obvious ways. Also check if they're running electric heat pumps or resistance heating. In Charlotte I found a hotel that was running backup electric heat strips 24/7 because of a failed control system.
Wayne's right about hot water. Also Angela, what's the vintage of the building? Here in South Dakota I've seen older hotels with massive phantom loads from outdated lighting controls and always-on equipment. 60% over benchmark is huge - that's got to be more than just inefficient operation.
Building is from 2008 so not ancient but not brand new either. Tom you might be onto something with phantom loads. Going to recommend they do a full electrical audit. The monthly usage pattern is pretty consistent which makes me think it's not occupancy-driven but some kind of base load issue.
Angela - check the pool and spa systems if they have them. I had a Cincinnati hotel burning 40% extra because the pool heating system was oversized and running constantly. Also look at laundry operations - commercial washers and dryers can be energy hogs if they're not properly maintained.
Ruth makes a good point on pool systems. Also Angela, have you verified the meter readings against CPS Energy's records? I know it sounds basic but I had an AEP client where estimated readings were way off for six months. Created a huge apparent anomaly until we got actual reads.
Wanda - meter readings are actual, not estimated. CPS Energy confirmed that. Ruth, they do have a pool and spa complex so that's definitely worth investigating. The base load is running about 85 kW even during low occupancy periods which seems high for a 180-room property.
85 kW base load does seem high Angela. For comparison, I had a similar sized hotel in Charlotte running about 55-60 kW base load. That extra 25-30 kW could account for a lot of your variance. Definitely worth doing some overnight load profiling to see what's running during off-peak hours.
Angela - in Arkansas I use a basic rule of thumb for hotels: about 12-15 kWh per occupied room per day for mid-tier properties. What are you seeing on a per-room basis? That might help isolate whether it's a base load issue or occupancy-related.
Bobby - running about 22-24 kWh per occupied room which is way over your benchmark. Definitely confirms this isn't normal. Owner agreed to the electrical audit so hopefully we'll get some answers. Will update the thread once we figure out what's causing the excess usage.
Angela - definitely keep us posted on what the audit finds. 22-24 kWh per room is almost double what you'd expect for that type of property. Could be a great case study for the group once you identify the root cause. In my experience, anomalies that large usually have a pretty obvious explanation once you find it.