Defining a Standard Metric for Electricity Savings

The “Rosenfeld,” a new metric proposed by a group of scholars, would provide a simple and standard manner for referring to the electricity savings potential of efficiency activities. The metric is named in honor Dr. Art Rosenfeld, who is widely recognized as energy efficiency’s foremost scholar and advocate.

Many expressions of energy savings can be difficult to conceptualize or lack standard reference. In expressing potential electricity savings, “avoided power plants,” for instance, often replaces the more abstract “billions of kilowatt hours saved” to describe the potential of efficiency measures. However, there are many sizes and types of power plants, and the metric can mean different things to different people. The current era of increased investment in energy saving activities requires communicating energy efficiency’s benefits in a clear and standard manner to decision-makers and constituents, underscoring the utility of the new Rosenfeld metric.

One Rosenfeld is defined as "one avoided 500 MW coal plant operating at 70% capacity in that year" (assuming 7% T&D losses).

Download "Defining a Standard Metric for Energy Savings" above to find out how to use the “Rosenfeld” in your analysis and to learn more about Dr. Art Rosenfeld’s contributions to the field of energy efficiency.