The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) contracted with Apex Analytics LLC to review NEEA’s baseline assumptions and savings calculation approach for variable speed pumps, which are part of the Extended Motor Products (XMP) Market Transformation program. The study reviewed NEEA’s approach to estimating a natural market baseline for adoption of variable speed pumps and its approach to estimating energy savings attributable to installation of variable speed drives on commercial and industrial pump systems.
Between October 2022 and January 2023, Apex reviewed NEEA documents, relevant sales data, and calculations, and then provided feedback and recommendations. These included recommending NEEA consider incorporating additional facility-level information into its savings estimates for variable speed pumps and reassessing a possible correlation between pump horsepower and kWh/hp savings. NEEA’s Extended Motor Products program team is using these and other study findings to inform possible updates to its forecasts and methodologies for estimating the naturally occurring market baseline and savings calculations associated with variable-speed pumps.
