As New York settles into the depths of winter, a major energy services provider is urging New York City developers, building owners and institutions to act now to be in a position to be eligible for energy-related financial incentives this summer.
Building owners can earn substantial “peak demand” or peak load financial incentives this summer from ConEdison by curtailing energy use on the year’s hottest days, when energy demand reaches its peak.
But owners cannot afford to wait until the summer to properly prepare their energy management systems, CES cautions. They must take action now to be able to earn maximum financial incentives in summertime.
Designed to ensure system reliability, incentives for demand response (DR) curtailments are provided by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and Con Edison, the regulated utility that serves New York City and Westchester. The incentive program targets major users in the five boroughs of New York City.
Incentives are substantial. Under recently enhanced Con Edison and NYISO DR incentives, ConEdison Solutions says that if it were to equip a 1.4-million-square-foot office building to earn the maximum in DR incentive payments, its owner could be paid approximately $300,000 for agreeing to reduce load during peak alerts.
“Thoughts of air conditioners and high summer energy demands seem far off today, but owners need to plan now for summer peak-demand season,” said Michael Perna, Vice President of ConEdison Solutions. “They must put the proper infrastructure in place that will enable seamless reductions in usage when a grid event takes place in the summer.”
Upon identification of the operational modifications needed to achieve the maximum appropriate load reductions, energy providers synchronize these modifications with building management systems to allow for a quick “peak demand” response with minimal involvement by on-site staff.
As part of an initial evaluation, ConEdison Solutions incorporates the financial benefits of demand response capabilities in modifying a client’s load shape into a proposed energy supply portfolio. In addition, by completing an engineering evaluation of a client’s facility, ConEdison Solutions will look to identify energy efficiency opportunities for the client as well.
ConEdison can equip large-scale energy consumers with a sophisticated energy monitoring and control capability called “VPower,” which gives users the ability to control power grid responses. Through a dashboard, the VPower software also provides customers with a view into system performance and compliance during a grid event. Customers thereby ensure they are maximizing the value of their participation and fulfilling their committed load reduction.