Commercial Office Electricity Consumption Down 25% in March 2020 Due to Coronavirus
We’re starting to get a clear picture of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting energy consumption. Data collected between the first and fourth week of March shows expected dramatic decreases across several sectors, while others tap even more power. What’s most notable is that electricity consumption in office buildings is down 25%, according to Innowatts, despite office occupancy being down by even more shocking margins.
In some cases office occupancy is down 90% as employers tell workers to stay home. A shocking drop in attendance should lead to far less energy consumption, but that hasn’t been the case. While energy use has certainly dropped by a wide margin, service level agreements and remote access of on-site servers is keeping electricity usage high, as property managers and building automation systems keep office spaces within the legal limits of acceptable use and servers operating 24/7.
Peak electricity use has remained largely unchanged across the nation, typically coming in the late afternoon and early evening. Consumption in the morning has declined significantly, as fewer workers are waking up early to rush out the door to their office. Collectively, US power demand has fallen to a 16-year low, according to analysts and the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) trade group.
Read the full report: https://www.axios.com/where-coronavirus-is-fueling-more-and-less-energy-use-a6cccb4d-bc15-430a-8133-009ada2bb582.html
