DistribuTech Conference to Highlight Energy Management

Water utilities are re-examining their power consumption in light of the growing cost of fuel and electric power. Onsite power generation, software to optimize pumping systems and monitoring power usage via SCADA systems are just a few of the methods used by utilities to manage energy consumption.

Energy management in the Municipal Water Industry will be a focus of two sessions at DistribuTECH ‘07, to be held Feb 4-6 at the San Diego Convention Center.

DistribuTECH focuses on distributed automation and management topics for the water utility and electric power industries. More than 200 exhibiting companies are expected to participate in the 2007 event, with many offering products targeting the water industry. Some 4,000 electric and water industry professionals are expected to attend.

Along with the exhibition, the conference will feature water-related sessions on such topics as customer information systems; asset management; data collection and information management; and using automatic meter reading as a conservation tool.

Among the presenters discussing energy management will be Shahid Chaudhry, Program Manager, California Energy Commission. His paper will discuss various strategies to reduce energy consumption, including energy conservation, load shifting and water resource management, among others.

Another speaker will address various digester gas-fired power generation technologies, including fuel cells, microturbines and reciprocating engines. The presentation will include case studies and discuss capital and operation/maintenance costs, digester gas cleaning needs, air emissions, gas consumption and waste heat recover.

For more information on the DistribuTECH conference, including registration and the preliminary program, visit www.distributech.com.