Flipping the Switch: Why Utilities Need to Shed Light Now on Carbon Risk

By Lawrence E. Goldenhersh

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Title V Systems: Taking the “Air” Out of GHG Risk

The good news about greenhouse gas data is that its substantial similarity to emissions data managed under Title V of the Clean Air Act means that successful Title V systems can also be used to manage GHG, as long as the system provider brings demonstrable domain expertise in GHG.

Environmental management information systems (EMIS) software developed to manage all types of environmental compliance issues, provides the data capture/analysis, task management, and reporting that will be essential for any successful GHG management regime. Because good environmental management systems are built by domain experts with a deep foundation in the physics and chemistry of emissions data, companies can rest assured that the GHG data they report avoids many potential pitfalls. For example, mistaking sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) for carbon dioxide (CO₂) is the kind of error that could result in a very material—by a factor of almost 24,000—understatement of actual emissions, as SF6 is a much more potent GHG than CO₂.

In selecting a system, care should be taken to understand the differences between traditional computer platforms and Internet-based software systems, also known as software as a service, or SaaS. SaaS systems are generally viewed as quicker to deploy and easier to standardize across an organization. These systems offer on-demand information and are connected to the in-house provider team, which generally consists of an interdisciplinary group of GHG and compliance domain experts and software specialists.

By contrast, most traditional enterprise resource planning or related systems treat carbon management as an afterthought—a bolted-on module to an existing platform from a company that may not understand the physics and chemistry of emissions data. The extent to which companies will need to reach third-party suppliers in connection with their carbon management solution makes Internet-based software an attractive and scalable option.

Regardless of the software platform chosen, care must be taken to evaluate the provider’s understanding of the underlying GHG data and how their system takes this domain expertise and maps it to an organization’s processes. Credible customer references will validate that the system works and that the provider has the requisite experience to truly operationalize GHG management. Auditable and reliable data management and reporting must be at the foundation for sound strategic planning. For this reason, understand how data used to measure the success of any carbon management program is tied to any all reporting, including dashboards.

The Future Is Now

No shareholder, PUC commissioner, rate payer, or environmentalist would ever applaud a decision to install electric typewriters to manage billing. They will take the same dim view of the use of spreadsheets and disconnected software programs to attempt the task of managing GHG.

Utilities of various sizes—from the largest in the U.S. to midsize and smaller providers—have already implemented Internet-based systems that manage Title V emissions and have also extended these systems to seamlessly bring the required visibility to GHG management. The technology is well established, certified for security, can connect with virtually every enterprise system on this planet, and has been proven to save money via workflow automation.

It’s time to flip the switch on a carbon management system.

—Lawrence E. Goldenhersh is president and CEO of Enviance Inc., a provider of Internet software solutions designed to help utilities manage carbon and other regulatory risks.

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