Electrical energy management systems are just one part of energy management systems. Many people confuse and use the terms interchangeably.
This article compares electrical EMS and EMS as a whole and explains to you how both are different from each other.
What is an Electrical Energy Management System (EEMS)?
An electrical energy management system’s sole purpose is to optimize electrical power systems in homes, buildings, and facilities. This includes monitoring energy usage, power quality, and controlling electrical equipment.
EEMS uses smart meters, sensors, and monitoring devices to collect live data on:
- Electrical load
- Usage patterns
- Power quality metrics
- Equipment performance
With this real-time data, EEMS can automatically control connected equipments like HVAC systems, pumps, motors, compressors, etc.
Examples of EEMS
- Building energy management systems: Monitor and control lighting, HVAC, and other electrical equipment to minimize building energy costs.
- Industrial automation system: Control process equipment and machines to reduce downtime and energy wastage.
- Home energy monitors: Smart home devices that monitor real-time electricity consumption are EEMS.
What is an Energy Management System (EMS)?
An energy management system takes a more holistic approach to managing overall energy consumption from all sources – electric, heating, cooling, natural gas, propane, gasoline, and more.
Rather than just looking at technical systems, an EMS takes an organization-wide approach to managing energy.
Let me explain what it means:
This means analyzing usage patterns, identifying waste, and identifying opportunities for efficiency improvements across people, processes, and assets. The goal of an EMS is to embed energy optimization into organizational operations.
Apart from this, an EMS leverages energy usage data, billing information, equipment profiles, and operational parameters to conduct an in-depth analysis of overall energy use patterns and trends. This helps identify times and areas of excessive waste and high energy costs.
Based on the usage analysis, an EMS can pinpoint where building upgrades like insulation or lighting improvements can reduce energy wastage. It also suggests process changes that alter how and when energy is used to lower consumption and costs.
The best part is that EMS gives you a bigger picture of analytics while EEMS handles real-time power management. An EMS can take EEMS electricity consumption data as an input and then analyze the same devices for heating, cooling, and other type of energy use.
Key Differences Between EEMS and Broader EMS
EEMS is a subset of EMS. Both are different from each other in four aspects: 👇
1. Scope: Electrical vs. Multiple Energy Sources
The scope of EEMS is focused exclusively on managing electrical power systems through monitoring usage, power quality, and equipment automation. At the same time, an EMS has a wider scope encompassing electricity as well as all other energy usages, including heating, cooling, gas, etc.
2. Approach: Technical vs. Organizational
An EEMS takes a technical approach using sensors, meters, and real-time data for automated control. However, an EMS evaluates organizational-level energy usage patterns to find efficiency opportunities in policies, processes, or behaviors in addition to updates.
3. Real-Time Control vs. Longer-Term Planning
EEMS makes immediate automated adjustments to electrical equipment operations using live data to optimize electricity consumption. EMS takes a longer view to pattern analysis to create organizational efficiency upgrade implementation plans over weeks or months.
4. Data Considered
EEMS utilizes granular real-time voltage, load, and power quality metrics from electrical distribution points. EMS leverages higher-level meter and billing data to identify usage trends across various energy types like electricity, gas, and steam over longer time periods.
Complementary Aspects of EEMS and EMS
EEMS Provides Raw Data that EMS Leverages
The granular, real-time electricity usage, power quality, and equipment data gathered by meters and sensors in an EEMS serve a big role for EMS. This raw data enables EMS to conduct a more detailed and accurate analysis of overall energy usage patterns.
Optimize EEMS Automation Through EMS Insights
The holistic energy usage insights and efficiency recommendations generated from the more expansive EMS analysis can be used to tune and optimize the automated electrical equipment controls implemented in the EEMS.
Unified Energy Management – Combining EEMS and EMS Strengths
Using the strengths of both systems together provides facilities with an accurate, real-time view of electrical efficiency via EEMS and a big-picture perspective on overall organizational energy use and savings opportunities from the EMS.
This unified approach enables fully informed equipment automation, upgrade planning, and efficiency best practices.
Benefits of Integrating Electrical Energy Management System and Energy Management System
Comprehensive Energy View
An integrated EEMS and EMS provide complete visibility into both granular real-time electricity usage data as well as overall trend analysis of all energy sources such as heating, cooling, and gas.
Optimize Electrical Alongside Other Systems
With a cross-cutting perspective of overall energy usage, electrical systems can be automated and optimized dynamically based on actual usage requirements of heating, ventilation, and other essential energy loads.
Unified Data Platform and Controls
An integrated EEMS + EMS creates a unified demand-side energy management platform built on shared meters, sensors, and data infrastructure with holistic analytical capabilities.
This drives coordinated optimized automation and control across electrical and heating/cooling equipment to minimize overall costs.
Wrapping Up
EEMS and EMS take complementary approaches to optimizing energy use. EEMS provides granular real-time data and control over electrical systems, while EMS delivers big-picture analysis of overall organizational energy use.
Using both together creates a unified and comprehensive energy management platform that drives maximum efficiency across heating, cooling, electrical, and other energy loads.
Facilities can leverage integrated EEMS and EMS to get full visibility into energy consumption alongside smart, automated optimization and planning capabilities to minimize costs.