Commercial electricity for places of worship

The shape of a busy day: building systems come up before a main gathering and fall away afterward, with a smaller evening activity. Days and hours differ between congregations, and most other days are far lower.

Illustrative shape, not measured data. It shows the pattern this kind of operation tends to follow, which is why its bill behaves the way it does. Your real profile comes from your own interval data, and it is the only version that can produce a number.

What the federal building survey says

In 2018 the U.S. Energy Information Administration surveyed 6,436 commercial buildings and recorded the electricity each used. These are the surveyed buildings that match places of worship, in kWh per square foot per year. Each is a whole building classed by what fills the most of it, so a single tenant space inside a larger building can use more or less.

Survey year 2018, so this is the usage pattern, not a forecast. Prices here are today's: the US average commercial price for the 12 months to the latest EIA month. The cost estimator does the same for your own floor area and state.

What drives the load

• Heating and cooling for a large worship space, often started hours before a gathering
• Lighting, sound and video equipment
• Kitchens and fellowship halls
• Offices, classrooms and childcare rooms
• Hot water
• Parking and exterior lighting

The trap this industry falls into

A building used hard for a few hours and idle the rest of the week is billed on its highest interval of draw, not on its average. If heating or cooling for the whole building, the lights, the sound system and the kitchen all start together on the busiest day, that moment sets the demand charge for the month, and under a ratchet clause it can keep setting it for months afterward.

What to actually do

1. Bring heating or cooling up earlier and in stages, rather than starting every system at the same moment
2. Use setback temperatures for the hours the space is empty and recover early rather than all at once
3. List every meter on the property, including halls, offices and any separate buildings, and check each is on the right rate schedule
4. Check parking and exterior lighting controls
5. Read the ratchet terms before adding load such as a new kitchen, a larger sound system or EV chargers

Which half of the bill to attack

A commercial bill splits into supply, which a competitive supplier can price where a competitive market exists, and delivery, demand, fixed charges and riders, which stay regulated whichever supplier you use. Load factor decides which half is worth your attention, and for places of worship the answer is usually clear.

At a low load factor, the peak is doing disproportionate damage relative to total consumption. Demand charges and rate schedule fit therefore usually matter more than the supply rate, and an operator who switches supplier to chase a lower supply price has left the growing part of the bill untouched.

This is also why a supply quote alone is a misleading answer for this industry. It is priced against the half of the bill that is not the problem.

The mechanics behind this: load factor, demand charges and rate schedule fit.

What we need to give you a real answer

• 12 months of bills with peak kW
• The weekly and seasonal calendar of services and events
• A list of meters and buildings
• Heating and cooling equipment and its controls
• Kitchen and other large equipment

The item that most often turns a vague conversation into a specific finding is twelve months of peak kW. A single bill shows what you paid; twelve months of demand readings show the shape that caused it, and the shape is where the recoverable money is.