Cold storage facilities have one of the highest energy intensities of any industrial category. Refrigeration runs continuously, the load is significant, and the cost of that load depends increasingly on when it is consumed rather than simply how much is consumed.
That creates an uncomfortable reality for operators who have treated electricity as a fixed cost: the rate structures that govern what they actually pay are shifting toward pricing that reflects grid conditions in real time.
Demand charges, time-of-use rates, and capacity market obligations mean that two facilities consuming identical kilowatt-hours in a month can face meaningfully different bills depending entirely on the timing of that consumption. [Read more…] about How Cold Chain Operators Are Turning Energy Flexibility Into a Competitive Advantage