How Important is an Energy Manager?

Meaning of Energy Management:

Before knowing who the Energy Manager is and what is his or her role lets us understand the meaning of Energy management and importance of energy efficiency.

The term 

" Energy Management " means an effective and judicious use of energy to maximize profits or to minimize the cost. 

 It simply means cutting out the waste by making the best possible use of energy consumed.

How important is Energy Efficiency and Energy Management?

Energy efficiency is very important to all organizations, particularly to energy intensive units and organizations. Organizations looking for more financial returns opt for superior energy management and continuously and effectively work towards improving their energy efficiency. A sound energy management system is a pre-requisite for identifying and implementing energy conservation measures, and sustaining the momentum.

Need for Energy Manager:

Leading organizations appoint Energy Manager and form a dedicated energy management team to establish the energy management programme. So the responsibility for the overall management of energy in its widest contexts is focused formally on the Energy Manager. The tasks of Energy manager are:

•  setting goals, 
• tracking progress, and
• promoting energy management programme. 

It is his or her duty to optimize energy usage within the total limits of his/her specified area.

To be really effective, the Energy Manager requires….

Successful Energy Manager very well understands how energy management helps the organization to achieve its financial and environmental goals.

To be really effective the energy manager requires:

• a broad education,
• vision, 
• imagination, 
• experience, and 
• common sense. 

The traditional Energy Manager has been primarily focused on the energy conservation aspects. As a result their responsibilities were limited to finding Energy Conservation Opportunities (ECOs) performing economic evaluations and submitting proposals to the management.

In addition to the above requirements, today’s Energy Manager must take on a much broader responsibility to accomplish the objectives of an energy management programme. The present generation of Energy Managers may have had a formal training and education in the inter-disciplinary subject of energy management. They may have been trained as engineers in their respective courses and have been exposed, to a greater or lesser extent, to a number of the disciplines which are fundamental to energy management. Today’s Energy Manager must understand financial and physical risk management and be able to evaluate corporate energy risk regarding reliability and energy cost.

Good Convincing Ability:

Energy Manager must be able to convince the benefits of their programs to top management. He or she might find themselves dealing with:

• engineers, 
• financial planners, 
• accountants, 
• supervisors, 
• public relation specialists, 
• government officials, 
• lawyers, 
• journalists etc. 

A good Energy Manager must be able to communicate clearly and persuasively with all those people.

Position of an Energy Manager:

If the objectives of energy management are to be achieved, the Energy Manager must have the authority and direct say into the day-to-day decision making. Depending on the size of the organization, the Energy Manager’s role can be a full time position or an addition to other responsibilities.

The location of the energy manager, whether performed by a single Energy Manager or a number of middle level managers, usually resides somewhere in the organization between senior management and those who control the end-use of energy.

Responsibilities of an Energy Manager and the Team:

Responsibilities and the duties assigned under the Energy Conservation Act 2001, to the Energy Manager and the team are:

1.     Make an annual activity plan with detailed financial investment information to control and   reduce energy costs.

2.      Establish an energy conservation cell within the organization.

3.  To check the efficiency of equipments and to compare with standard energy efficient equipments.

4.  To spread energy awareness among other staff members, conduct internal workshops and distribute the informative materials.

5.     To provide regular training to operative staff.

6.    To collect right information about energy saving from market and from Energy Managers of the same sector through association.

7.  Report to Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and state level designated agency about the action taken on the recommendations of accredited energy auditor in the prescribed format.

8.    Establish good system of data recording and to analyze the energy consumption trends.

Future Aspects:

It is more likely that Energy Managers will become progressively involved in the conceptual and design stages of projects so as to reflect on the impact made by the design and operation of new generation of process and service industry.