Working in New York? See Consolidated Edison’s New $200 Million Incentive Plan

Feb. 6, 2014
Consolidated Edison plans to offer incentives totaling more than $200 million for energy efficiency, demand response and combined heat and power. The utility, one of the nation’s largest, recently detailed its plan in a filing before the New York Public Service Commission.

Consolidated Edison plans to offer $161 million to spur 100 MW of energy efficiency and demand response in greater New York City, according to a recent filing by the utility with New York regulators.

The utility, one of the nation’s largest, also intends to make $40 million available for 25 MW of new combined heat and power.

The incentives are in addition to the utility’s established programs. They emerged out of a state investigation into how to make up for a power shortfall should a major nuclear plant retire.

So look to Con Edison – along with the New York State Energy & Research Authority – to reach out to energy service companies, contractors, equipment vendors, CHP installers, large building owners, real estate developers and others when it starts marketing the new program. They also may seek aggregators who group small energy users to reduce peak load.

Technologies eligible for the demand reduction incentives will include thermal storage, battery storage, demand response, building management systems, chiller/heating ventilation and air conditioning, lighting, and fuel switching. The utility will pay the incentives on a dollar per kW basis and will offer bonuses for large projects.

To be eligible for the CHP incentives, a project must be installed at a Con Edison customer site. (The utility’s service territory includes New York City and Westchester County.) CHP projects can range in size from 50 kW to 1.3 MW and will be eligible for both base and bonus incentives.

The idea of offering the incentives emerged when the state public service commission began looking for ways to make up for a power supply shortfall should the 2,040 MW Indian Point retire. Con Edison suggested energy efficiency, demand response and CHP as a partial replacement. After the commission examined the programs, it decided they would be good for the state whether or not Indian Point closes. So the commission ordered Con Edison to move forward with them.

Con Edison and NYSERDA intend to create a website dedicated to the incentives. But until then, Con Edison will post information here and NYSERDA here.

The utility emphasized that the plan is a “living” document that will be updated as needed. It did not specify when it will begin offering the incentives. Stay tuned to our RFP page for details as they emerge.

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About the Author

Elisa Wood | Editor-in-Chief

Elisa Wood is an award-winning writer and editor who specializes in the energy industry. She is chief editor and co-founder of Microgrid Knowledge and serves as co-host of the publication’s popular conference series. She also co-founded RealEnergyWriters.com, where she continues to lead a team of energy writers who produce content for energy companies and advocacy organizations.

She has been writing about energy for more than two decades and is published widely. Her work can be found in prominent energy business journals as well as mainstream publications. She has been quoted by NPR, the Wall Street Journal and other notable media outlets.

“For an especially readable voice in the industry, the most consistent interpreter across these years has been the energy journalist Elisa Wood, whose Microgrid Knowledge (and conference) has aggregated more stories better than any other feed of its time,” wrote Malcolm McCullough, in the book, Downtime on the Microgrid, published by MIT Press in 2020.

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