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e-FFICIENCY NEWSHunt Power has many energy products and services. What is your overall goal and how do you achieve this? Hugh Baker: Hunt Power’s objective is to provide our customers with the confidence of knowing that their energy lifeline is as efficient, reliable and secure as possible. Hunt Power refers to this concept as “energy security.” As the electric infrastructure and products arm of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. (and sister company of Hunt Oil Company, one of the largest and oldest independent oil companies) Hunt Power is part of an organization that has been a trusted energy company for almost 70 years. Building on this legacy, we see opportunities to help companies achieve a state of energy security, despite an environment of volatile primary energy prices, transmission grid constraints and localized utility infrastructure issues. Hunt Power’s vision is to become the “go to” partner for solving energy security issues, and to this end we have built a strategic portfolio of energy products and services that contribute to energy security – and to energy efficiency. e-FFICIENCY NEWS: Among its many energy products and services Hunt Power is very well-known for its metering business. What is this and how does it help your customers? Hugh Baker: Hunt Power acquired the E-Mon D-Mon line of energy sub-metering products several years ago. We actively market this line of products in industrial, real estate, institutional and government settings as a cost allocation tool. Our products also are widely used as measurement, verification, and persistence monitoring tools for utility load control and energy efficiency programs. We always say “you can’t save what you can’t measure”, and indeed we’ve seen many metering projects turn into energy saving opportunities for our customers. In one case, we installed our meters in a mall for cost allocation purposes and discovered a power factor problem that was costing the mall owner thousands of dollars per year in additional power cost, and the consumption of fuels by the utility that provided no useful benefit. We immediately saw the opportunity to install power factor correction equipment at the customer’s site. The solution we successfully implemented resulted in a payback to the customer of less than 18 months. e-FFICIENCY NEWS: What other products and services does Hunt Power offer and how do these help improve overall efficiencies and energy security? Hugh Baker: In 1999, Hunt Power was successful in launching an electric transmission and distribution system to serve a 6,000 acre master-planned real estate development; we continue to provide metering and planning services to that utility and others. Hunt Power is also a developer and manager of energy infrastructure projects that meet local energy security needs, with construction/development projects that include customer-owned on-site substations, an energy-efficient commercial office building product aimed at energy intensive mission critical energy users, and on-site power projects. Our experience with these kinds of projects has led us to offer power quality and reliability programs that increase energy efficiency and security, and result in cost savings. Poor power quality (e.g. voltage and current anomalies, harmonics, etc.) can cause microprocessor-based equipment to fail, and in many cases poor power quality is a cause of increased losses in a building’s power system, leading to higher energy bills and wasted energy. In one case we identified an energy savings opportunity of 10% simply by correcting a power system harmonics problem. On-site power systems can help avoid economic losses due to everything from momentary utility outages to disaster situations. Hunt Power also offers infrared scans, power quality tests, and specialty construction services to address these growing issues. With these services, Hunt Power routinely sees opportunities for energy savings in both retrofit and new build situations.
e-FFICIENCY NEWS: How does Hunt Power work with existing utility companies? Hugh Baker: We view ourselves as a complement to your local utility. While we work directly with energy end users, we also work closely with utilities as well. In many cases, the utility is our customer. In others they are our partner. We are comfortable working with utilities in almost every situation. e-FFICIENCY NEWS: How do you define energy efficiency and how does an organization embrace it? Hugh Baker: Energy efficiency programs are about saving energy, and about having confidence in knowing that your energy is efficient, reliable and secure. This is what our business is all about. Through the Alliance to Save Energy, Hunt Power is excited about reaching out to the broader energy efficiency community with our unique mix of energy products and services, and sharing our perspectives of how best to address energy security and energy efficiency needs. Hunt Power can be contacted by phone at (214) 978-8935 or by email at hbaker@huntpower.com. |
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All enterprises—from hospitals to resteraunts to universities, retailers, and government institutions—rely on a steady stream of energy for continued operation. Hunt Power is part of an organization that has helped businesses manage this commodity for almost 70 years. Efficient use of energy adds to the bottom line and enhances the effectiveness of any business. e-FFICIENCY NEWS asked Hugh Baker, president of Hunt Power, about the business of energy efficiency.
