Monthly Archives: February 2014

Final Order from NYPSC on Con Edison Rate Case Reveals Especially Encouraging Language on Climate Change Directives

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 27, 2014

By: Elizabeth B. Stein, Attorney and Adam Peltz, Attorney

Source: Iwan Baan

In Tuesday’s blog post, we discussed the recently concluded Con Edison rate case, its context, and its significance in advancing clean energy and grid resilience in New York. Today, we take a closer look at the final Order posted last Friday by the New York State Public Service Commission (the Commission) to uncover some of the more encouraging outcomes buried in this 300+ page document:

Con Edison agreed to various measures that allow for more distributed generation, i.e. on-site power generation, such as combined heat and power, rather than relying solely on power generation and distribution from the traditional, centralized grid. For example, Con Edison agreed to pay for some fault current mitigation, which enables distributed generation to be connected to portions of Con Edison’s grid where it would otherwise be prohibited, and agreed to develop an implementation plan for a microgrid pilot. Additionally, Con Edison agreed to treat customer-sited projects, including distributed generation, as integral parts of its system by considering them in its 24-month planning horizon. Because some distributed generation can operate in an ‘islanded’ mode, or separate from the main grid, and can thus continue operating in a power outage, distributed generation can play a critical role in improving resilience. Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Pricing, Grid Modernization, Methane, Natural Gas, New York, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

NYCEEC, NY State Green Bank Clear the Way for Clean Energy Financing of Retrofits

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 26, 2014

By: Susan Leeds, CEO of the New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC)

Source: AtisSun

As New York City gets repeatedly hammered by snow, ice and the evil “wintry mix,” one could almost forget the world is warming at an ever faster clip. But the experts in the room earlier this month at the roundtable discussion on ‘Economics of Energy Retrofits’ at Urban Green Council (New York’s chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council) know the debate is over. Climate change is real and the window for action is closing. That’s why it’s more important than ever to work toward removing barriers to clean energy financing now.

As the De Blasio administration strives to build a more affordable New York City it’s important to note that clean energy building upgrades are central to this mission. By reducing energy use, building owners and their tenants can realize millions of dollars in annual savings while slashing dangerous carbon pollution for cleaner air and water. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Investor Confidence Project, On-bill repayment, Utility Business Models / Comments are closed

New York’s Con Edison to Take New Measures Protecting Against the Effects of Climate Change

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 25, 2014

By: Elizabeth B. Stein, Attorney and Adam Peltz, Attorney

Source: Iwan Baan

The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) took a historic step late last week, unanimously approving an Order that requires Con Edison to implement state-of-the-art measures to plan for and protect its electric, gas, and steam systems from the effects of climate change. This announcement regarding the future of New York State’s largest utility comes as a welcome coda to local storm recovery and resiliency efforts that have been in the works for some time now.

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy clobbered the coastline of New York City. Homes were swept away or badly damaged as corrosive salt water flooded basements, while millions lost power. In one of the enduring images of the storm, an exploding transformer at East 14^th Street caused the “city that never sleeps” to go dark below 40th Street and stay that way for the better part of a week. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Climate, Demand Response, Electricity Pricing, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Grid Modernization, New York, Utility Business Models / Read 1 Response

Preliminary Results Find Demand Response-Green Building Partnership is Off to a Great Start

By Jamie Fine / Published: February 24, 2014

The preliminary results of the Demand Response Partnership Program (DRPP), a unique partnership launched by EDF and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2011, are now available in the 2013 DRPP Overview. Photo source: Harvard University.

Buildings account for 40% of our nation’s electricity use. In 2012, power plants spewed about 2 gigatons of global warming pollution into our air, which was about one-third of total U.S. emissions. That’s why EDF and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) teamed up to launch the Demand Response Partnership Program (DRPP) aimed at increasing the participation from commercial buildings in host utility demand response (DR) and smart grid programs. Now, 2 years into the program, the preliminary results of this collaboration are available in our 2013 DRPP Overview.

DR is used to reduce energy use by rewarding utility customers who use less electricity during times of “critical,” peak electricity demand. Through DRPP, we leveraged relationships with the building community asking LEED projects to operate in low power mode when the grid is stressed. LEED ‘Pilot Credit 8: Demand Response’ has been developed as an incentive and implementation guideline.

This study evaluated three areas to measure the program’s success in 2013: Recruitment and outreach to potential participants, research and analysis of data from participants, and education about the DRP Program. A few key highlights are outlined in the Overview: Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Demand Response, Energy Efficiency, Grid Modernization, Renewable Energy / Read 1 Response

Critical Decision Expected Tomorrow in Colorado on Clean Air Rule

By Dan Grossman / Published: February 23, 2014

Day 4 of the ongoing hearings on a groundbreaking proposal to reduce air and climate pollution from oil and gas operations in Colorado saw Team EDF pushing back on claims opposition groups have made to try to weaken the proposal.

Leading companies Noble, Anadarko, Encana and DCP also put on strong cases, using their own operational data to show the proposal is cost effective. They should be lauded for their leadership, as should local governments and conservation groups that brought strong analytics to the hearings.

If the proposal is adopted without being weakened, it will eliminate more than 90,000 tons of smog-forming VOCs annually (the same amount produced by all the cars and trucks in Colorado) and more than 100,000 tons of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.

Posted in Air Quality, Climate, Colorado, General, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged Climate, climate change, Colorado, environment, fracking, Methane, Natural Gas | Read 3 Responses

COGA and CPA Fight Common-sense Methane Regulation

By Dan Grossman / Published: February 21, 2014

Industry trade groups – the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) and the Colorado Petroleum Association (CPA) – came out swinging against methane regulation in the third day of hearings on a groundbreaking proposal to reduce air and climate pollution coming from oil and gas operations.

And some wild swinging it was!

They acknowledged that we need to reduce methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. But they said studies are showing different results about how much methane is being leaked and vented and that we shouldn’t regulate methane until we know exactly how much is escaping.

Posted in Climate, Colorado, General, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed