The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities (IAMU), funded in part from an APPA Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments program grant, has developed a toolkit to equip utility managers and other public power decision makers with tools, knowledge, and resources related to the purchase, sizing, and implementation of transformers.
In addition to the main spreadsheet tools, the toolkit offers a suite of ancillary tools and templates that help explain how household and commercial electrification impacts transformer load, the optimal planning and development process for the purchase of new transformers, and sample materials to engage prospective electric fleet vehicle customers in utility efforts.
The toolkit includes these components:
• Transformer Inventorying System: Allows utilities to input their existing transformers by year of installation, giving a wholesale inventory of current transformers that can gauge when older transformers might need to be replaced or where additional transformers could be installed.
• Commercial Transformer Sizing Guide: A corresponding interface for gauging existing demand and projecting year-over-year load growth from commercial customers.
• Residential Transformer Sizing Guide: An interface that evaluates current demand and forecasts annual load growth from residential customers, incorporating demand from in-house appliances such as boilers and electric furnaces while quantifying peak demand during winter and summer months.
• Fleet Transformer Sizing Guide: A third inventory and load growth forecasting interface that performs similar calculations based on existing EVs and the expected debut of new electric fleet vehicles.
• Transformer Purchase Forecasting Guide: A report that provides a detailed breakdown of the need for new transformers based on peak load, predicted transformer failure rate, and the combined load growth from residential, commercial, and EV sources, using data from the first four components
• Marketing & Engagement Resources: A suite of customer engagement templates for social media and other community engagement collateral
• Video Tutorials: A series of video tutorials explaining how to use the various components of the transformer toolkit.
The toolkit is now available on APPA's product store at these pricing levels: DEED Members: $50, APPA Members (who are not members of DEED): $110, Nonmembers: $210.
