By Eric Romich, Field Specialist, Energy Development
Farmers have long explored options to provide energy savings associated with their agricultural operations. Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Soybean Council have partnered to provide research-based data-driven tools to help Ohio farmers assess and navigate various energy infrastructure investment options for their farm. Specifically, the project team is interested in learning more about your experience and interest in implementing energy management strategies such as peak demand reduction, power factor correction, and/or the integration of solar generation systems to reduce electricity costs on your farm.
Farmers with commercial rate structures that charge for peak demand and poor power factor can implement equipment and management strategies to reduce electricity costs, thus increasing long-term profitability. However, very little is known about the economic feasibility of investing in equipment to reduce peak electric demand charges in agriculture. To determine the economic feasibility of implementing energy management strategies it is important to simultaneously study the real costs of installing new equipment, ongoing risks, challenges, as well as understanding how these improvements will influence the calculations of a farm’s electric bill a comprehensive manner.
If you are an Ohio farmer and interested in participating, you may click the survey link below to participate in this voluntary study. The survey will take less than 5 minutes and is designed to determine the overall level of interest in implementing energy management strategies such as peak demand reduction, power factor correction, the integration of solar generation systems to reduce electricity costs on your farm and to identify individuals who have experience with on-farm energy management strategies to summarize benefits and challenges. This project will provide our research team with data to identify actionable recommendations that will inform future Extension outreach and education programs.
If you have additional questions regarding this study please contact Eric Romich, Ohio State University Extension Field Specialist, at 419-294-4931 or by e-mail at: (romich.2@osu.edu).
Survey Link: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4MaQn34JafSQlQ9