Energy Conservation, NET Conference
Energy Savings in Stock at Nordstrom
NEW ORLEANS—Next time you’re shopping at Nordstrom, you might notice something different. If the store is in California, and the local investor-owned utility needs to reduce its load, some of the lights will go out.
Nordstrom is participating in demand response at more than 40 stores. (Photo By: Newscom)
Keli Stosich, senior energy analyst at Nordstrom, said the company voluntarily reduced electricity usage during California’s energy crisis in the early 2000s. That got officials thinking about ways to avoid future rolling blackouts.
In 2007, Nordstrom approached PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric about developing a hard-wired system to uniformly shut load in the stores. In 2011, the third year of the program, 42 California Nordstrom stores participate in demand response programs.
Speaking Feb. 2 at the New & Emerging Technologies Conference, Stosich said that while each utility’s program is different, there is a common thread: “You pay higher during the high-cost event time, but we’re using less energy, so we see savings that way.”
In each store, 20 percent of the load is shed when the utility calls an event. Notice of an event is given one day prior, and any store can opt out. “We only have two sales a year,” Stosich said, “and if by chance an event was called on the first day of a sale, as much as I’d like to think we’re going to participate, we’re not going to participate.”
When the time comes, a signal is sent from the utility and the rest is automatic. All spotlights are turned off. Reductions are also made to other lighting and second-stage cooling. Thirty minutes before the event, a store official reads an announcement over the public address system, explaining what is going on to customers.
“Dollar savings vary from program to program,” Stosich said. In Southern California Edison’s territory, there were 12 events in 2010, saving Nordstrom $150,000. “It’s not a huge dollar savings,” she said, but the company is “building partnerships with the utilities that are out there and kind of leading by example.”
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