Energy Assurance Planning for Your Business

What is Energy Assurance Planning? The goal of energy assurance planning is to prepare organizations to take an active role in minimizing and mitigating the impact of energy supply disruptions on local assets and critical services.

Why are we concerned about preparing for an energy emergency?
Energy interruptions can occur at any time. Sometimes the interruption lasts just a few minutes, or hours, but sometimes they can last for days. We often think just of electrical powerdisruptions as an energy emergency, but a break in a natural gas line, an oil refinery repair shut down, or a skyrocket in gasoline prices could all have an affect upon the availability of energy we use everyday. Dependent upon the nature of the disruption and the effect it could have on a community, an energy emergency could escalate into a very serious situation.

What is the Village doing to prepare?
The Village was awarded a Local Energy Assurance Planning grant from the Department of Energy in 2010. With these funds, the Village has prepared a comprehensive Energy Assurance Plan (EAP) that outlines the Village’s roles, responsibilities, and response action plans for energy disruptions or energy-related emergencies. To support the implementation of this plan, local businesses are asked to join the Village in strengthening energy resiliency in the community. Emergency management is not just about response: it is also about sharing the responsibility for preparing for an emergency. Our local businesses provide valuable insight into overall preparedness and are vital to the success of energy assurance planning. Ultimately, being prepared for an energy interruption or other emergency reduces the level of disruption to your business operations.

Become aware of your energy needs and current usage.

• Identifying how much energy you need to operate and where your energy comes from is an important strategy. It is also vital to become familiar with your back-up power supply and aware of how you get that energy supplied to your business.

Develop a simple Energy Assurance Plan.

• Who are primary contacts if a short- or long-term energy interruption occurs?
• Do you have a plan for continuation of operations in the event of an energy emergency?
• Do you have an emergency task force either within your business or group of shopping center tenants who would act in an energy interruption?
• What is your communication plan in an emergency event (e.g. to customers, landlord, power supply, Village contacts, etc.)

Reduce your energy consumption.

• If you consume less energy from the start, less energy will be required to keep you up and running! Several assistance programs are available specifically for businesses to identify energy usage and provide financial rebates. Information about these programs can be found on our Green Strategies for Businesses page.

If your business is interested in reducing energy use and related costs, learning more about energy assurance planning, or participating in any of the activities listed above, please contact General Government at 847-781-2600 for more information.