Marietta, GA (August 25, 2020) — GDS Associates, Inc recently completed an extensive market potential study for the Colorado Energy Office focused on Beneficial Electrification (BE), including a market potential forecast and an investigation into market barriers and policy options for the State of Colorado.
In the Beneficial Electrification in Colorado Market Potential Study 2021-2030, GDS analyzed the technical, economic and achievable potentials for BE in commercial, residential, and industrial buildings. This includes investigating opportunities for electrification in both the traditional building sector as well as specialized categories like oil/gas and non-road transportation in Colorado from 2021-2030. Some key parts of this effort included identifying both emerging and established technologies, incorporating impacts on natural gas and propane markets into Colorado’s modified total resource cost test, incorporating the legislated social cost of carbon, and accurately reporting on Colorado’s statewide net carbon emissions reductions (CO2 equivalent) by modeling and forecasting an electricity grid with ongoing reductions in carbon emissions intensity.
The accompanying report, Beneficial Electrification in Colorado Market Barriers and Policy Recommendations, provides summary data and program recommendations to accelerate the adoption of electrification technologies.
“GDS was pleased to work with the Colorado Energy Office to explore the opportunities surrounding Beneficial Electrification in Colorado over the next decade,” stated GDS Managing Director Rich Hasselman. “BE offers states and utilities an opportunity to leverage ongoing reductions in electricity sector carbon emissions to provide cost-effective solutions to meet climate change challenges. In many states beneficial electrification is just getting started, with a large potential to use electricity as a method of meeting climate change goals.”
The BE research identified several recommended next steps including market development activities, long-term goal setting, coordinating and engaging with a broad set of stakeholders to coordinate efforts across utilities and markets, supporting workforce development initiatives, developing consistent messaging and building consumer awareness, taking advantage of the market for new building construction, leading by example in state buildings, and establishing rules for quantifying the impacts of electrification within existing air quality legislation.
View more information from the Colorado Energy Office here. For more about GDS and Beneficial Electrification work, contact Rich Hasselman, Josh Duckwall, Jeffrey Huber, or Warren Hirons.
GDS Associates is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, with offices in Alabama, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Since 1986, GDS has been a multi-service engineering and consulting firm providing services to a broad range of clients associated with, or affected by, electric, natural gas, water, and wastewater utilities. Services provided include Power Supply Planning; Wholesale and Retail Rates; Regulatory and Financial; Transmission Planning and NERC/CIP Compliance; Distribution System Planning and Line Design; DSM and Energy Efficiency; Utility Distribution Services; Natural Gas; and other specialized services including renewable energy, sustainability, emerging smart infrastructure, data analytics, electrification, and DER integration. Visit www.gdsassociates.com for more information about GDS.