Whole-building load data recorded at 15-minute intervals -- known as utilities’ load research data -- have been analyzed for 11 commercial buildings in southern California. Major characteristics of the whole-building loads have been identified, including each building’s demand profile on the system peak day (and the building-specific peak day). A statistical analysis of the whole-building hourly loads has also been performed, which determined the temperature dependency of whole-building hourly loads for each hour of the day, by season.

The analysis indicates that utilities’ load research data are a rich source of information for analyzing and understanding patterns of customer electricity use, segregated by major end uses. Used to advantage, these data would provide a reliable basis for understanding patterns of energy use, temperature dependency and seasonal variation of the load in commercial buildings. Electric utilities can use this information to develop models to extract estimates of major end-use load profiles, by customer class.

Units: I-P