Dive Brief:
- Enrollment ends April 1 for the first wave of a demand response program Con Edison has offered to large commercial customers who can reduce their power usage during peak times.
- For every MW of reduction that a customer or aggregator of buildings provides, Con Edison will pay up to $500,000 over three years.
- Participating buildings must have an interval meter which measures electricity usage every 15 minutes, but the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will provide a $1,500 rebate to managers installing the meters.
Dive Insight:
Commercial building managers who want to sign up for Con Edison's summer demand response program have until April 1 to begin participating in May, and until May 1 for a June start.
“By participating in Con Edison’s demand response programs, managers of 800 buildings have made the smart choice to generate revenue while saving on their bills and helping to ensure that electric service is reliable in their communities,” said Rebecca Craft, director of Energy Efficiency and Demand Management programs at Con Edison. “It’s important for building managers who are interested to contact us soon so that we can set them up for the summer of 2015.”
Con Edison offers two demand response programs. In one, the company will notify the customer that buildings should conserve starting in two hours or less. In the other, the company will provide notification 21 hours in advance. In most cases, customers can participate in both programs simultaneously.
Half of the buildings in the program are office buildings, the utility said, and retail buildings make up about 9%, followed by health-care and educational facilities. Con Edison also offers incentives of $800/KW, up to 75% of the cost, for measures such as generators or software.
