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Energy Planning Basics
What is an Energy Plan? 
An energy plan is a written document containing goals and strategies to guide an entity in its future energy development and usage. It is a roadmap to achieve energy goals, both near and long term. Plans usually consider financial, operational, community, environmental, and regional concerns. Successfully developed plans are usually adopted by leadership as a guide to economic and infrastructure development.
Energy plans can be crafted by any entity which desires a deeper understanding of their energy usage and a plan for transformation of that usage in the future. Energy plans can focus on facilities, operations, and any other element of the entity's operational environment which they find to be relevant. Depending on the intended scope, energy plans can evaluate residential, commercial, industrial, governmental, transportation, and other energy usage within the community. Energy plans can benefit from being developed through community-wide engagement with residents, businesses, and other stakeholders who may have input on the plan. Leadership should provide adequate opportunities for input from the community.
Some local governments and communities in Wisconsin have crafted their own energy plans, while others have hired professionals to help facilitate the process. In either case, an energy plan will require time and resources to perform the work successfully.
The Office of Energy Innovation (OEI) is here to help answer questions as entities consider creating an energy plan and begin the planning steps.
ContacT OEI
Key Consideration
Energy plans are not static documents. As technologies develop and implementation occurs, plans should be updated and revised to reflect changing priorities and contexts.
Key Consideration
Community involvement can be beneficial to energy planning, and involving community members in discussions at an early stage in the process helps gather important feedback and support for future energy saving actions.
What are the benefits of an energy plan?
A well thought-out and successfully implemented energy plan can help reduce waste and provide cost-savings to building owners. They can also help stimulate job creation, provide greater energy security, and provide a cleaner and healthier environment.
Additional benefits can include:
- Possible increased revenues
- Reduced impact to taxpayers
- Facilitate infrastructure planning
- Reduced reliance on external energy sources
- Reduced climate change impact
- Cleaner and healthier communities
Who should consider energy planning?
An energy plan can help many entities looking to implement energy efficiency and electrification upgrades.
Energy plans are options for:
- Local governments (towns, villages, cities, and counties)
- Tribal governments
- Universities and schools
- Hospitals
- Non-profits
- Businesses, industries, and other commercial entities
Through its grant programs, the OEI has funded over 40 energy planning projects. For a list of some different projects see the Table at the bottom of this page.
Steps of Creating an Energy Plan
The following steps are based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Community Greening Report, as well as
Vermont’s Energy Planning & Implementation Guidebook for Vermont Communities, and other resources listed below. This is intended to be a short outline of the process to complete a plan. The OEI has added additional insight and information to each step.
Figure: U.S. Department of Energy Diagram of Nine Steps
in Process for Community Energy Planning Cycle
1. Identifying/Convening Stakeholders
Throughout the entire planning process, communication with stakeholders will be critical for success.
Stakeholders can include, but are not limited to:
Members of the local government/municipality (Mayor, City Council, Sustainability Leads, Facilities Managers, etc.)
Local business and industry
Nongovernmental organizations
Residents of the community
“Energy champions” interested in planning and energy savings
Utilities providing energy to the community
Community engagement can help support the long-term success of the plan. Engagement can use a variety of tools including interviews, polls, surveys, websites, email lists, hotlines, focus groups, advisory groups, community meetings, social media, texting, and neighborhood canvassing.
Key Consideration
Gathering and engaging diverse stakeholders can help improve decision-making and trust, and improve community buy-in.
2. Form a Leadership Team
A leadership team should be formed that has the power to make decisions, convene stakeholders, pursue funding, and promote the project. At the local government level, participation from other relevant local agencies that have a stake in the planning process should be involved. Additionally, key advocates from external groups may be selected to aide in transparency and strive for a balanced and equitable approach while also helping to encourage buy-in and expand the breadth of possible ideas and solutions generated from the leadership team.
3. Develop an Energy Vision
Collaboration between the leadership team and stakeholders should identify the main priorities and support the development of a clear vision. This includes the scope and size of the energy plan. For local governments this discussion can consider whether the plan is community-wide or focuses solely on the local government and its infrastructure and operation.
In this development process, the leadership team should ensure that all participating stakeholders understand the scope and the goals of this stage to ensure fruitful and engaging discussion from participants. The common vision shared by the stakeholders helps ensure a unified effort and should be encapsulated in a short and broad statement of vision guides the overall process.
Some examples of such statements are:
- Achieving 100% renewable energy for the energy usage of municipal operations.
- Achieving an overall % improvement in local community energy usage.
- Reducing the environmental impacts of local community energy use.
- Increasing energy efficiency implementation.
- Improving local energy reliability through the development of facilities which have microgrid capabilities.
- Improving energy affordability within the community.
4. Develop an Energy Baseline
A critical component of establishing a successful plan is developing an energy baseline for all the identified sectors under study by gathering relevant energy data. Depending on the energy plan scope, common energy sectors to be considered are government (municipal facilities), residential, commercial/industrial, and transportation. The more detailed the data, the more specific goals and strategies that can be developed. Good data also helps the project track its progress over time by comparing baseline measurements to new data after projects have been completed.
To get a general landscape of energy trends, it might be helpful to review state energy trends. The Office of Energy Innovation (OEI) maintains a statewide energy statistics portal that provides this data:
Wisconsin Energy Statistics.
To understand energy use at the local level, an energy auditor could be hired to help gather the data and complete energy assessments on buildings. If the leadership team intends to gather the data itself, engagement with any energy providers is important. Engaging with energy providers such as utilities can help gather information that may benefit the plan, related to usage levels, rates, system reliability, and energy sources.
At the local government level, the leadership team can obtain additional data by reviewing electric and heating billing records, going back at least a year for each building or facility, if possible.
Some common electricity uses include, but are not limited to:
- space heating, cooling, and water heating for all municipal buildings and operations; lighting and basic operations such as computers, copiers, and standard office equipment;
- streetlighting;
- major operations such as water pumps, wastewater treatment plants, recreation facilities, heavy equipment, and solid waste facilities.
Useful Tools for Organizing and Analyzing Data
Once the data is collected, one typical strategy found in most energy plans is a business-as-usual forecast, showing what would happen without the proposed projects and the changes the proposed projects would realize if enacted (ex. a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or energy use, and/or the amount or money saved over time).
To help plan for costs, the leadership team should consider an energy audit or other type of assessment by energy professionals who can accurately assess the energy needs, types of projects, and their associated costs requested by the leadership team. These costs will help inform the development and prioritization of goals for the plan. An energy audit will help provide baselines for energy use, as well as identify potential savings from improvements. There are different levels of energy audits with different scopes that the leadership team may need to consider based on the types of building or goals of the energy plan.
Key Consideration
Discuss with the public works department or facility managers the age and efficiency rating of boilers, furnaces, and motors; building and window insulation values; interior and exterior lighting efficiencies; and current equipment use and purchasing policies, including the use of life-cycle costing, cooperative or group purchasing, or other efficiency-based procurement policies.
Key Consideration
An energy audit serves as a checklist and blueprint for energy saving opportunities for the leadership team to follow, guiding the implementation of energy efficiency projects and reducing energy use and emissions. To learn more about energy audits and the different levels of audits, see the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories Guide to Energy Audits.
Energy Baseline Resources
5. Develop Specific Goals
Once data is gathered from a baseline study and initial community engagement has been completed, the leadership team should develop a set of short-term and long-term goals. Goals should be specific and measurable, providing energy plans with target dates and measurable values that can be worked towards. The goals should be related to the plan's vision and be based on what can be realistically achieved based on available or anticipated budgets and resources.
Goal setting is a great opportunity for additional community engagement through a meeting or a series of meetings, where the needs of the community, the capability and funding of the community, and other community criteria are incorporated into the plan.
Examples of common types of goals are:
- Conduct energy audits of all 10 municipal buildings.
- Switching all non-LED fixtures and lights to LED lights over the next 2 years.
- Have an energy professional conduct a siting assessment for solar PV on the property over 6 months. Once the study is complete, conduct a review and capital planning to fund solar PV installation. Based on capital planning estimates, begin solar PV installation in 2-3 years.
Key Consideration
While short and long-term goals are important, creating intermediate goals are also critical. Accomplishing intermediate goals, allows opportunities to celebrate success and/or provides opportunities to revise the plan, keeping stakeholders engaged and momentum moving forward.
Key Consideration
Consider local zoning requirements. Understanding these requirements and how they might expand, or limit options is critical in writing a realistic and feasible plan.
Goal Setting Resources and Tools
6. Evaluate and Rank Actions
To achieve the goals, different actions and projects will need to be implemented. Actions identified in the energy plan are descriptions of specific activities that work towards completing the plan. These projects will have varying costs and time scales. Different actions will also be competing for resources. To help evaluate and rank these actions, communities can create a cost-effectiveness ranking system to aid in their evaluation. This ranking exercise may help to prioritize actions based on available resources and assist with future plans for budgeting.
Key Consideration
There are many different methods for evaluating actions. The right method depends on the goals and the community. These resources offer a few examples communities could follow:
7. Funding Source
One of the most important and difficult components of planning is funding, whether it is finding a funding source to support creating an energy plan or funding the different projects needed to implement the energy plan. Local governments and organizations can look at a variety of different sources for funding: grants, incentive programs, and/or portions of a municipal budget are just a few of the possible funding sources.
Potential Funding Sources
8. Compile the Plan
At this step, all the information that has been gathered is formalized and consolidated into an energy plan document that is formally adopted, serving as a guidance document for policy- and decision-making. The plan should clearly state what the goals are, actions and programs that help achieve them, and provide the baseline data to use as a reference and evaluate against.
Some of the key sections in an energy plan include:
- An Overview or Purpose
- Description of Current Conditions and Energy Baseline
- Identification of Energy Resources
- Indicators, Benchmarks, and other Performance Measures and Metrics
- Goals, Policies, and Tasks, including how the plan might relate to larger organizational objectives
9. Measurement and Verification, Plan Alterations
As energy plan program activities and projects are completed, additional data and information should be gathered for measurement and verification. This step can be applied at every level and step of the project to help determine energy savings and the effectiveness of the plan. With regular evaluation, stakeholders can determine what elements of the plan may need alteration.
Measurement and Verification Resources
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Tools to Support Energy Planning
- Environmental Protection Agency:
- ENERGY STAR for Commercial Building Guidelines:
OEI Funded Planning Projects
These energy planning projects have been undertaken by a broad range of organizations and communities with funds from the
OEI’s Energy Innovation Grant Program.
Additional Resources
The OEI has complied a non-exhaustive list of resources from federal, state, and local organizations that may be useful in providing additional guidance and insight.