The New York Energy Week (NYEW) Meetup continues to deliver high-quality speakers and dialogue, setting the stage for another successful event series this year, June 15-19. The April 23 Meetup — at the NYU Varick Street Incubator — featured a presentation from Tom Mimnagh, Department Manager at Consolidated Edison of New York (ConEdison), a NYEW Terawatt-level sponsor. The insightful presentation and Q&A session was followed by a brief, but lively Earth Day/energy trivia session (among free pizza and Heartland Brewery beer).
Mr. Mimnagh focused his presentation on the New York State Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding, some nuances of New York City’s energy demands, and how ConEdison is working to ensure the best possible service to its ~3.3 million electricity customers.
Broadly, the REV proceeding aims to:
Empower customers to manage energy use and electricity bill
Encourage innovation by third parties to create new market-based products and services
Enable distributed energy resources (DERs) to manage load and optimize the system, and to improve system efficiency
Reduce carbon emissions and increase resource diversity
In one of its first major policy determinations under the REV proceeding, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) determined that the existing state utilities — including ConEdison — will provide the Distributed System Platform (DSP). The DSP help facilitate DER growth through a more transparent marketplace and active customer participation, helping achieve a more efficient, secure, and cost-effective grid.
Despite the state lagging on meeting ambitious renewable energy goals, downstate solar energy installations doubled in 2014, and ConEdison’s targeted energy efficiency/demand-side management (EE/DSM) programs have helped to defer more than $200 million over the past 10 years. The Company’s demand response (DR) programs — customer agreements to curtail load in times of high system demand — also contribute to keeping the state’s peak load in-check. In addition to commercial and industrial DR programs, a partnership with ThinkEco and its innovative Modlet device helps manage a fraction of the electricity demand from the 6+ million NYC window air-conditioning units at the residential level.
Another key topic Mr. Mimnagh highlighted was the Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management program (BQDM). The PSC approved the $200 million program in December 2014, and it aims to defer $1.2 billion in traditional electric system upgrades through deployment of distributed energy resources, increased clean energy solutions, and innovation through competition. The program is still in its early information-gathering stages, but we will likely learn more this June, during NYEW 2015.
To enjoy more sneak-peeks into NYEW 2015 discussion topics, great networking, and complimentary refreshments, be sure to join us May 7 for our next Meetup. Please visit www.meetup.com/ny-energy-week to register today.
