What's Cooler Than Being Cool? Overcoming barriers to district cooling implementations in Texas

The demand for space cooling is rising. The increase in cooling demand can put significant strain on the electric grid since approximately 99% of air-conditioning and refrigeration loads worldwide are met with electricity. Many hot weather cities could benefit from district cooling (DC) systems to meet their growing cooling demand in an effective sustainable manner. Since these systems require significant infrastructure investment and optimisation affecting multiple stakeholders, it is important to understand the role of local authorities or municipalities, energy companies, and end users in the planning for these implementations. This is due to the fact that the overall goals and objectives of these actors have a big influence on the success of these projects. A literature review was conducted to identify the role of DC systems in urban energy transitions and an exploratory, embedded multiple case study research method was used to identify the lessons learned from the DC system implementations in the downtown area of Houston and Austin. Even though the Austin system is owned and operated by the municipality and the Houston system is owned and operated by a private company, both systems had the same economic driver for implementation which was to capture load at the time of de-regulation of the electricity market in Texas. However, it was found that there were many benefits in the Austin system to be owned by the city. The information barrier was not prominent in Austin, but it was the main barrier mentioned in the Houston case. Since the system is owned by the city, it is part of the many utilities (water, electricity, etc.) that need to be considered during new developments and as a result there is more trust from end users. Private companies require more evidence if end users are not familiar with DE systems. Additionally, the environmental and social benefits of the DE system are not apparent when there is not a connection with the municipality. Although it is not a requirement for the municipality to be involved in implementing DC systems for it to be successful, it does have multiple social, economic, and environmental benefits that can drive municipalities to get involved.