Dive Brief:

• New York utility Central Hudson Gas & Electric has filed a $46 million rate case to initiate a 5-year plan to modernize the utility.
• The rate case, titled "Value for Our Valley," calls for: a new modernized grid system, with conservation voltage reduction, voltage reduction and fault location, isolation and restoration (FLISR); greater demand response in areas where the grid is strained; local solar installations ranging from 1-3 MW of capacity; and, more microgrids to be operated and maintained by the utility.
• The rate case is the first from the utility in two years and would raise rates by about $4.78 per month for the average customer. 

Dive Insight:

Central Hudson's overhaul of its operations is one of the first and biggest steps taken by any state utility to meet the vision laid out in the New York's Reforming the Energy Vision proposal, issued in April of this year. In the proposal, regulators said that utilities should prepare to become distribution platform providers for distributed energy resources.

Central Hudson already has one microgrid in operation in Frost Valley and it has proven its worth: The utility says it kept the lights on through 12 or more storms since 2010. To try and extract value from microgrids, the utility plans to charge customers a small, as-yet-undefined fee for using the central grid.