Question for the group - working with retail clients here in Las Vegas on NV Energy and consistently seeing 25-30% higher usage than national benchmarks for similar retail operations. Climate is obviously a factor but even accounting for cooling loads the variance seems excessive. Anyone else working in desert markets seeing similar patterns? Wondering if national benchmarks just don't translate well to markets like Vegas.
NV Energy vs national benchmarks - big variance
Kim - San Antonio gets pretty hot but not Vegas hot. I'd say 25-30% variance could definitely be climate-driven, especially if your clients are running HVAC year-round. Are you seeing the variance consistently across all retail types or just certain categories? Restaurant and grocery tend to have higher cooling loads that might amplify in desert climates.
Kim, I'd check what benchmarks you're using. A lot of the national data comes from temperate climates and doesn't account well for extreme heating or cooling markets. EIA has some regional adjustment factors that might help normalize the comparisons. What's the average cooling degree days in Vegas versus the benchmark data source?
Angela - seeing it across all retail types but grocery and restaurants are definitely the worst. Rachel, Vegas runs about 3,100 cooling degree days versus maybe 1,500-2,000 for most national averages. That could definitely explain a lot of the variance. Maybe I need to develop some Nevada-specific benchmarks.
Kim - 3,100 cooling degree days is significant. For comparison Charlotte runs about 1,800 CDD. You might want to look at other desert markets like Phoenix or Tucson for more relevant benchmarks. The building codes and HVAC practices in those markets would be more comparable to Vegas than national averages.
Kim, Wayne makes a good point about comparable markets. You might also consider reaching out to NV Energy directly - they sometimes have regional usage data that could help establish more realistic benchmarks for your market. Desert climates really are different beasts when it comes to energy usage patterns.