RII Utility Needs Assessment Survey on Controlled Environment Agriculture

The Resource Innovation Institute (RII) is an international nonprofit organization working to identify and advance best practices for resource efficient controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Its Utility Working Group (UWG) on CEA has commissioned this survey to help utilities and utility stakeholders better understand the CEA market.

Survey responses will be aggregated, analyzed, and published.

The members of the UWG are grateful for your participation in this survey.

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* 1. What type of organization do you represent? (Select all that apply)

Investor-Owned Utility

Public Power Utility

System Operator

EE Program Administrator

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. What is your level of involvement with the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) sector, considering any crop? (Select all that apply)

Work in or consider the CEA sector exclusively

Manage / inform spending on projects directly influenced by or for CEA activities

Contemplate program design for CEA activities on a near-daily basis

Contemplate program design for CEA activities on an occasional basis

None yet, but am interested in learning more

None for the foreseeable future

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* 3. Which, if any, of the following factors affect your decisions as they relate to CEA investments and program design? (Select all that apply)

State policy and regulation

Maturity of CEA market

Legal issues related to federal cannabis prohibition

Internal forecast of CEA growth in territory

Direction from senior leadership

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* 4. Is your organization anticipating deepening its engagement with the CEA sector within the next 12 months? Examples could include performing market research on the CEA segment in your territory, exploring incentives for energy efficiency indoor horticulture equipment, or actively engaging CEA customers.

Yes

Maybe (please specify)

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* 5. Does your organization serve state-regulated cannabis cultivation customers?

Yes

Not sure

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* 6. If you answered "Yes" to Question 5, how does your organization currently serve or plan to serve cultivation customers? (Select all that apply)

Grower outreach and education

Efficiency programs

Research studies uniquely for our organization

Collaborative research efforts with other organizations

Other (please specify)

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* 7. By order of rank (1 = most important, 6= least important), what in your experience or observation is most needed to successfully maximize energy savings from the CEA sector?

Prescriptive incentives for energy-efficient indoor horticulture technologies

N/A

Active outreach to CEA customers about incentives

N/A

Active educational programming to help CEA customers understand their energy impact and equipment decisions

N/A

Improved and deepened utility understanding around best practices for optimal program design and customer engagement for the CEA segment

N/A

Structural changes at the state level (e.g., statutory language requiring energy efficiency, formal guidance from regulatory bodies, explicit direction from public utilities commission, etc.)

N/A

Structural change at the federal level (e.g., federal codes and standards for CEA equipment, federal legalizing commercial cannabis cultivation, etc.)

N/A

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* 8. By order of rank (1 = most, 6= least), what of the following resources, if there were available to you, would be most helpful?

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* 9. What key questions do you have about CEA, its energy use and how you may want to interact with stakeholders operating, developing, or informing CEA facilities?

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* 10. Would you like to stay in touch, learn more about how to participate in the Resource Innovation Institute's Utility Working Group and/or receive more information about educational models for CEA customers, CEA Best Practices Guides, or the Cannabis PowerScore energy use reporting tool?

Yes, and my contact info address is: