Dive Brief:
- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has launched a new website aimed at connecting businesses and electric utilities, and fostering the development of new ideas and profit models between them
- The REV Connect digital portal is a part of the state's Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) plan to boost clean energy and reimagine how the utility business model operates.
- The website will provide a location for businesses to submit ideas for feedback and technical support, and be potentially matched with investor-owned utilities to pursue partnerships
Dive Insight:
New York's efforts to rethink how the utility sector operates also extends to how those ideas are mined. The new REV Connect website aims to foster new business partnerships that are "self-sustaining initiatives" that will activate markets and help grow clean energy.
New York State Chairman of Energy and Finance Richard Kauffman said the new site is "another innovative building block" to support the state's energy agenda and create a clean energy economy.
"REV Connect will help third parties and utilities navigate the new energy landscape in New York to catalyze innovation, support new utility business and revenue models and advance the state’s leadership in modernizing its energy system and addressing climate change affordably and smartly," Kauffman said in a statement.
New York's REV process has been the poster child for the modernization of utility business models. In March, the Public Service Commission approved a new compensation structure for distributed energy resources, a move designed to help the state value solar power, energy storage and other small, local clean energy systems.
That order was one of multiple decisions approved as part of the REV proceeding. Others focused on Distributed System Implementation Plans for investor-owned utilities to help evolve their electric grids into platforms allowing third-party service providers access to power customers.
