Overview
Taos Ski Valley, Inc. is the largest ski resort in New Mexico and a global leader in sustainability within the snow sports industry. As one of only two B-Corp ski resorts in the world and a Certified Carbon Neutral Company, Taos is committed to environmental stewardship and innovation in reducing carbon emissions. With a bold goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2030, the company continuously seeks tools and technologies that support smarter energy management.
The Challenge at Taos Ski Valley
Prior to implementing eGauge Systems, Taos Ski Valley faced a significant barrier to optimizing energy use: a lack of granularity in energy consumption data. Utility-provided metering aggregated energy use across the entire resort, covering buildings, ski lifts, snowmaking equipment, and more, into a single bill. This lack of visibility made it nearly impossible to pinpoint inefficiencies or accurately track energy reduction efforts by end use.
The Solution: eGauge Systems
eGauge Systems was selected as the preferred solution due to its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, free software, and ease of installation. A standout feature for the Taos team was that their staff could install and maintain the system, an important factor in scalability and long-term value.
Implementation
The initial setup posed some challenges, particularly in understanding the documentation. However, eGauge’s responsive and knowledgeable phone support team quickly addressed these issues, ensuring a smooth transition and successful deployment. As staff became familiar with the system, internal training was developed to build operational fluency.
Results and Benefits
- Granular Energy Data: With eGauge’s submetering capabilities, Taos can now break down energy use by end-use type. This granularity provides actionable insights across different systems and facilities.
- Operational Awareness and ROI Tracking: The ability to track and verify the effectiveness of energy-saving projects has led to increased staff awareness of consumption patterns and measurable savings over time.
- Enhanced Maintenance and Reliability: eGauge is now used regularly to monitor power usage, analyze outages, and detect power quality issues. It has become an essential tool for monitoring both owned and leased spaces.
Carbon Accounting Support: The data collected through eGauge plays a key role in Taos Ski Valley’s annual carbon accounting process, contributing directly to their sustainability and compliance goals. - Cross-Departmental Integration: Multiple departments now rely on eGauge to guide decisions and optimize operations based on real-time and historical energy data.
Data in Action
One of the key drivers for installing eGauge Systems was the ability to calculate the percentage of the resort’s energy that comes from solar sources. This was particularly important for Taos Ski Valley’s carbon accounting process, and early on, the system enabled the team to analyze solar production data alongside total consumption.
Beyond sustainability tracking, eGauge data has uncovered critical power quality issues that directly impact operations. For example, monitoring at the Vehicle Maintenance Facility revealed multiple power outages and instances of line voltage dropping on one or more phases—conditions that have damaged equipment such as industrial compressors and gantry cranes.
Taos Ski Valley Customer Experience
Taos Ski Valley reported a stellar experience with eGauge’s customer support and technical assistance. The ease of use, affordability, and valuable insights provided by the system have made it a highly recommended solution for any business aiming to better understand and control energy use.
Conclusion
For a company like Taos Ski Valley, where sustainability is at the core of their mission, eGauge Systems has proven to be a transformative tool. It empowers the resort to make data-driven decisions, improve energy efficiency, and move confidently toward their Net Zero goals. As a result, Taos continues to set the standard for environmental leadership in the ski industry, now with the power of eGauge behind them.
“It’s a fantastic, relatively simple, and inexpensive tool for businesses to quantify and analyze their energy usage.”
– Taos Ski Valley, Inc.
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