Whether you had power or you didn't after a massive power outage in the Midwest and Northeast on August 14, you probably wondered how vulnerable your particular place of business or neighborhood is for future outages.

Two lighting industry stalwarts-the Lighting Research Center (LRC) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)-each came up with its own solution to avert future power problems.

Innovative Lighting Offers a Hedge Against Future Outages

The LRC's suggestion for alleviating overload on the U.S. power grid involves retrofitting with a load-shedding lighting system as an "insurance policy" against future power interruptions.

The LRC is working with several other partners to develop a simple, practical and low-cost system that uses the concept of load shedding, or limiting the demand for electricity at particular times to make better use of existing electric capacity.

Among the organizations involved with this effort are: the U.S. Department of Energy, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, California Energy Commission, and Connecticut Light and Power, and leading lighting manufacturers.

Over the last three years, LRC researchers have developed load-shed lighting systems to allow a utility, in cooperation with building managers, to shed electric load quickly and reliably by sending a signal to a building's lighting system.

Andrew Bierman, LRC lighting system specialist, states, "The ballast works by reducing the current supplied to the lamps, thereby dimming them by 30% to 60%. This reduction in lamp current reduces electrical power demand."

Since the lighting systems of commercial buildings contain thousands of lights-typically three for every 100 square feet-nearly a megawatt of electrical load could be reduced for every 3 million square feet of occupied commercial real estate.

"This load could be shed at a moment's notice and would not disrupt the activities of the occupants," Bierman adds.

Unlike other electrical loads, lighting can be operated at reduced power levels for short periods of time with little or no decrease in the productivity of business. This is because people are remarkably adaptive at working under a variety of lighting conditions.

LRC studies indicate that temporary light level reductions of up to 50% are acceptable to the majority of occupants engaged in common office tasks. In fact, light level reductions of up to 15% are undetectable to most people if such reductions occur smoothly over a period greater than a few seconds. For larger reductions, smoothly reducing light levels over a period of a few seconds greatly reduces the perception that light levels have changed.

Lighting is an easy target for those interested in reducing and even preventing energy grid crises. Virtually all commercial buildings use lighting. Done properly, lighting is easy to control. Lighting load reduction is measurable, repeatable, and largely independent of other variables. By contrast, to effectively measure energy savings in HVAC systems, factors such as outside temperature, humidity, area size, number of occupants, and the activity of those occupants must be considered.\

"Load management through lighting is a viable alternative to building new power stations and should be part of an integrated public policy strategy to prevent future outages," says Dr. Mark Rea, Director of the LRC.

NEMA Wants to See Surge of Votes for Energy Legislation

NEMA says the massive power outage that affected the Midwest and Northeast clearly demonstrates the need for additional investment in the power grid, generation (including distributed generation near loads), and energy efficiency to increase reliability and reduce system electric load.

Among the provisions of the bill is funding for research and development on advanced end-use technologies including the Next Generation Lighting Initiative.

In particular, the energy efficient commercial buildings tax incentive would in the near term result in a reduction of electricity demand for lighting, the largest commercial use, through retrofits with higher efficiency products.

To learn more about the legislation, and the organization's position on it, read additional information on NEMA's Web site.