Author: Jessica Lobo, AEG Fellow, New York City
In the last two weeks alone, due to either extreme heat or volatile lightning storms, I have received five alerts from Con Edison warning me that the power may go out. New York’s grid is not ready to handle the climate challenges we are facing and the ones that are sure to come. We need to modernize New York’s grid as soon as possible.
Some progress has been made. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an important component for grid modernization. It helps to increase its efficiency. At last year’s AEG NY 20Q3 Stakeholder Challenge, the topic was IoT Technology and Innovation. Stakeholders determined that grid decarbonization requires buildings to play a part in balancing generation and consumption to ease the integration of renewable generation. Buildings need to become more flexible in regards to their demand - not only to support and incentivize renewable buildout but also to reduce the demand for fossil fuels and alleviate the grid during peak demand times. IoT can support buildings in being more flexible about their power demand. While working with Demand Response programs offers cost-savings in the long-run, NYC real estate owners would also need to worry about the penalties for high levels of energy consumption, the consequent uncertainty for their operational budgets, and the requirement to publicly post their building’s energy letter grade. Therefore, participation in the programs is low.
How can we incentivize buildings to partake in these programs? What actions can be taken to improve the business case for demand flexibility in buildings?
Since these obstacles and questions have been identified, AEG’s Stakeholders have been working hard to address them. In fact, the questions mentioned here, as well as many others in regard to building demand response, are going to be answered very soon. AEG’s Stakeholders have put together a fantastic Research Assignment for the brilliant students at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs to tackle. We are excited to see what analyses and actionable recommendations students come up with. It will play a huge role in making sure NYC buildings are playing their part in modernizing the grid.
That being said, building demand response is one part of modernizing the grid. There are still many obstacles to identify and tackle. /The upcoming AEG New York 21Q3 Stakeholder Challenge on Grid Modernization hopes to do more of this work. We are thrilled to have speakers from ConEd, NYCHA, NYS Department of Public Service, NYPA and NYSERDA.
If you are interested in participating in this event and helping us to modernize NY’s grid, please register here
If your company is an AEG Sponsor, Government or Nonprofit, please contact Jessica Lang (jess@goadvancedenergy.com) for your no-cost registration link.