AI Case Study
JCPenney saves $45K in energy costs in one year by implementing smart energy storage battery Stem
JCPenney piloted Stem's smart energy storage system across 9 retail stores which store energy during lower demand times to release it during higher demand times, thereby avoiding some costs associated with demand charges.
Industry
Consumer Goods And Services
Retail General
Project Overview
From Stem: "Stem’s software-enabled batteries store energy during lower cost periods, and then release the energy to avoid drawing power from the utility when usage is highest or rates suddenly spike. Stem’s self-learning software and team of experts handle everything – from operating the system, to identifying high- value opportunities for added savings, to remote monitoring and maintenance. In addition to running the automated storage system, Stem software includes a powerful customer-facing tool called PowerScope that lets JCPenney’s energy managers see energy use and costs in real time. PowerScope provides alerts, along with monitoring and forecasting tools, that allow the building management team to optimize energy use, accurately predict future costs, model new energy projects in house, generate data for executive buy-in and verify results after implementation."
Reported Results
$45,000 in total savings across 9 stores in a year
Technology
Function
Operations
General Operations
Background
According to Stem: "Faced with relentless online- and discount-driven market pressures that are challenging most retailers, JCPenney is employing smart cost-reduction strategies to improve its balance sheet. The Plano, TX-based company has aggressively cut its selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, which includes controllable store costs such as energy. Demand charges can mean that power draw during just 15 minutes out of an entire month can set more than half of the total bill. The per-kilowatt energy charge may vary by the time of use, too, with higher rates during grid peaks. Plus, with hundreds of stores, JCPenney can’t a afford to manually optimize energy consumption for each individual site with its unique characteristics and rates. And, as a retailer, JCPenney must ensure shoppers’ comfort and satisfaction, so they can’t make adjustments to temperature and lighting—two of the highest sources of energy consumption."
Benefits
Data
BusinessWire states that "Stem captures energy data on a one-second basis, dispatches on a five-minute basis, and stores terabytes of data to the cloud".