Microgrid-Chino Valley Ranchers Achieves Net Zero!

 

Agave® Systems  is proud to announce the completion of the final phase of the Chino Valley Rancher Microgrid System. The 1 MW of combined Solar PV Carport and Roof mount systems are now up and running and add a vital component to Chino Valley Ranchers’ distributed generation strategy. The addition of renewable technology demonstrates Chino Valley Ranchers’ dedication to clean energy and sustainable practices. Chris Nichols, Senior VP, noted that “Regatta Solutions has earned our trust! The project execution was smooth, with little to no disruption to our operation. We consider Agave® & Regatta valued team members we depend on.”

Chino Valley Farms first engaged Regatta to design and deploy three cogeneration systems throughout their facility three years ago. The system generates roughly 1 MW of electric production. These systems provide hot water for sanitation applications to enable their egg processing business. These systems are controlled by the Agave® MicroGrid Controller that optimizes generation dispatch and delivers lights out control. Agave® Analytics provides measurement, verification, and financial reporting. The result is a system that generates 5.5GWh for 100% of their energy consumption and makes the site Net-Zero. The Microgrid project provides quick ROIs and saves Chino Valley Ranchers over $650,000 per year.

It’s a joy to work with innovative clients that blend distributed generation technology to drive high resiliency, demonstrate sustainability, and spend smart to optimize their bottom-line, says Steven Acevedo, CEO and Founder of Agave® and Regatta Solutions.

 

World Earth Day 2021

 

Happy Earth Day! It’s a great day to feature one of our clients, FDS Manufacturing, a prominent west coast manufacturer of industrial and agricultural packaging that drives sustainability in everything they do. From reusing recyclable plastics and paper to delivering recyclable packaging, their engineering innovation has made them a leader in the eco-packaging space. The Agave® team is proud to enable FDS with measuring, analytics, verification, and controls to improve their energy usage and costs continually. Agave® Evolution™ microgrid controller allows their microgrid to perform at optimum levels, drive lower electricity costs, and contribute to greenhouse gas reductions. Agave® Analytics is used to track both the energy cost and usage performance of their distributed generation system. Agave® delivers real-time business intelligence that provides a proven bottom-line process to manage the economic & energy efficiency of their system successfully. If you are serious about sustainability for your company, let us help you create the story. Contact sales@www.agavesi.com or visit www.agavesi.com for more information.

A Message From Our CTO, Mark Gilbreth: Utility Rate Changes

June 2020

Utility Rate Changes

 

While you have been trying to financially navigate the COVID-19 shutdown since mid-March of this year, Southern California Edison has issued two utility rate increases.  The first rate increase of 4% to 8% took effect on April 13, 2020.  The second rate increase of 4% to 5% took effect on June 1, 2020.

Depending on your specific utility tariff that will be an increase of 9% to 11% when you return business over the next several weeks.

Isn’t it time you START MANAGING your ENERGY COSTS? 

We at Agave are changing the way clients manage their energy costs.  Our Virtual Energy Manager application helps clients quickly focus on the biggest energy savings opportunities.  Clients will understand when they use energy, how they are being charged when rate tariffs change, and when high-cost energy events occur.  Our application provides clients with savings strategies such as bill auditing, alternative tariffs, process improvements, energy efficiency, and onsite generation to identify the biggest savings with the least investment.  These strategies are aimed at reducing costs without impacting business operations.  Our application provides key performance indicators that allow clients to track savings improvements.  Clients can manage by exception, investing little time, by allowing our analytics capabilities to track events and provide just in time notifications that allow you to save money.

Our Agave® team is excited to empower clients to manage Energy Costs.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  If you would like to set up a demo, fill out this form.

Mark Gilbreth, CTO

Agave® Systems, Inc.

Get a Quick Win with Agave® Systems!

Hallelujah! For the first time since the coronavirus crisis began, businesses within our client community are getting back to work. It may even be fair to say—cautiously–that the economy is beginning to recover. There is no denying that we took a big hit: Data from the Wall Street Journal demonstrates that the country was still mired in a severe downturn in April and May, with overall business activity falling and layoffs rising. However, the rate of contraction has been slowing and is now nothing like the acute squeeze we experienced in March. Although current projections have the economy falling 6% to 7% this year and unemployment lingering in double-digit percentages, it now appears conditions in some aspects of the economy aren’t getting worse, and might even be improving. As the WSJ reported, “If this is the only wave [of coronavirus], it looks like we’ve bottomed out and the normalization process has begun,” said Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist at S&P Global Ratings.

Our clients are moving to the same beat, as we continue to receive client feedback focused on the possibility of a quick economic recovery. We are all experiencing the uncertainty caused by the crisis—and that uncertainty means that situational business management awareness is now crucial. What is needed now is the agility to reevaluate market positions and business strategy, paired with clarity about the actions necessary to not only survive but to grow. Having a quick win right now is as important as it has ever been!

 

At Agave® we help our clients establish a defined process to manage their utility bills. The quick win for our 2019 clients was savings averaging over $50,000 annually on their utility expenses. Following analytics, auditing, alerts, and recommendations made by Agave®, our clients were able to maximize savings in this area. If you want to add value to your business enterprise, consider engaging Agave® to be your virtual energy manager. We guarantee a return on your annual subscription within 90 days! Quit paying your utility bills (Electric and Gas) without really understanding the cost of energy and how you are using it. Agave® will shed light on what you have been paying for and where you can save. Don’t just use power—become empowered.

 

Receive an Agave® mask when you sign up and attend our introductory webinar! This demo will provide you with discussions specifically about your company’s energy concerns. Sign up here !

Agave Systems Mentioned in CEC Report

Both Agave Systems and Regatta Solutions are mentioned in the 2019 report called “A Comprehensive Assessment of Small Combined Heat and Power Technical and Market Potential in California”. The report was compiled from a study that identified, characterized, and assessed combined heat and power (CHP) technologies and applications in California. This assessment found economically viable applications, including the systems and platforms supplied by Regatta Solutions and Agave Systems. Many of the case studies used for the report are Regatta installed clients. Out of these clients, many are using Agave Systems for their energy management and utility bill management.

Full Report

6th Annual Demand Response and Distributed Energy Resources World Forum 2019

Agave Systems’ CEO, Steve Acevedo, will be speaking at the 6th Annual Demand Response and Distributed Energy Resources World Forum 2019 in San Diego. He will be participating with the Green Button Alliance on a panel session on the “Innovations in DERMs”.

6th Demand Response & DER World Forum

According to the site:

“Utilities around the world are under increasing pressure to accommodate energy efficiency, control load, and integrate distributed energy resources such as renewables. These factors plus an urgent need to control greenhouse gasses are driving new requirements for energy resiliency, sustainability, and power quality — all of which impact the traditional utility business case. For utilities to thrive in this changing market, they must embrace greater network agility and work with customers to maximize value for all stakeholders in the value chain.

The 6th Annual Demand Response & Distributed Energy Resources World Forum, October 16-17, 2019 in San Diego brings together stakeholders from across the DR / DER industry and internationally to examine the latest technology advances, case studies, and business strategies for optimizing demand response, energy efficiency, DER integration and control, and demand-side management programs. The event will help utilities and C&I end-users realize the full economic benefits of incorporating these capabilities into their operations and leveraging the next-generation smart grid to optimize performance.”

In attendance will be the following:

  • Large wholesale renewable energy generators — wind and solar
  • Energy professionals at municipal, investor-owned, and rural utilities
  • Energy managers at commercial and industrial end-user organizations
  • Regional transmission system operatorsCurtailment service providers
  • Building energy management (BEM) companies
  • Regulators and government policymakers
  • DR aggregators
  • IT and software providers
  • Smart grid technology providers and network operators
  • Communications network service providers and vendors
  • Financial and venture capital professionals
  • Consultants and system integratorsResearchers, analysts, and university professionals

Steve will be speaking on October 17th at 11:30am

EVENT INVITE: Driving Sales Performance in Energy Project Development

Looking to expand your energy services solutions and business opportunities? Increase your sales performance in energy development by becoming a partner with Agave® Systems. Microgrids offer the opportunity to integrate various distributed generation resources such as solar PV, combined heat and power, and battery storage systems to meet the electric needs of a facility.  How do you generate demand and qualification for these projects?  How do you incorporate these disparate technologies in your business’s value proposition?  Are you challenged to demonstrate the best solutions to better a client’s energy usage? These questions and more are answered in an informative session geared to firms wanting to expand their distributed generation solutions and managed services business.  Join Steve Acevedo and Mark Gilbreth who share a number of best practices they have acquired through a combined 50+ years in the energy and high technology industry.  Better understand how the  Agave® Systems SaaS Platform expands your capabilities and resulting business opportunities.

This Event Has Already Occurred

Dates and Locations

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 8am-11am: San Diego- Corporate Alliance of San Diego, 9540 Towne Centre Dr, Suite 150, San Diego, CA 92121

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 8am-11am: Orange County- Rutan and Tucker, LLP 611 Anton Boulevard, 14th Floor, Costa Mesa CA 92626 

Thursday, August 8, 2019 8am-11am:  Los Angeles- USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience 1002 West Childs Way, Los Angeles CA 90089

Agenda

8:00am-8:30am

Steve Acevedo

  • Microgrid Trends and Direction
  • Consultative Selling: Complex Environment

8:30am-9:00am

  • Selling a Microgrid: Best Practices

9:20am-9:45am

Mark Gilbreth

  • Cogeneration, Solar, Battery Storage
  • Understanding the Client Environment: Agave® Systems Overview

9:45am-10:15am

  • Panel Discussion: Q & A

Learn more

Forester Media: Distributed Energy Guest Blog Post

CEO and Founder of Agave® Systems, Steven Acevedo, discusses Empowering Mid-Market Business: Considerations for Implementing a Commercial Microgrid. Check it out here: https://bit.ly/2FP4cOP

Distributed Energy’s Blog: Mitigating Demand Charges Through Energy Management

Agave® Systems‘ Steve Acevedo and Mark Gilbreth discuss Mitigating Demand Charges Through Energy Management in Distributed Energy’s Laura Sanchez Editor’s Blog. Check it out here: https://bit.ly/2vta3np

Agave Systems attends the AWS Summit 2019

On April 11, 2019, Agave® Systems attended the AWS Summit at the Anaheim Convention Center. This was an education event full of networking. The event was designed to share the AWS products, services, and solutions. As Agave Systems uses the AWS Cloud for our EVOLUTION™ Product, we were excited to learn more about AWS. More about our AWS partnership to come.