In California during times of grid strain, customers are asked to voluntarily reduce demand so keep the grid stable. While this practice has seen success, most stakeholders agree that customers won’t always be so helpful.
A program in New York, managed by AI and technology company Logical Buildings, rewards enrolled customers with cash payments for doing the same thing.
Related: Residential batteries helped keep the California grid from shutdown
The program is called GridRewards and on average customers of the program earned about $80 over the 2022 peak utility season, the company said in an announcement on February 28.
Using an app to track and lower their energy use when requested, more than 9,000 Con Edison, and Orange and Rockland Utility customers in New York City, Westchester, Rockland and Orange Counties, received cash payments, lowered carbon emissions and provided measurable support to their local utility via demand response (DR) services, said the company.
During summer 2022, the peak utility season, a record number of residents, spanning both single and multifamily residences, enrolled and participated in GridRewards events. These participating customers now account for the majority of Con Edison’s residential demand response participants, a share that the company expects to increase for the 2023 GridRewards season, currently underway.
Through the program users were prompted to adopt smarter energy use measures during Con Edison’s June-September peak energy period.
When high energy demand was forecasted, GridRewards offered users opportunities to earn money by reducing energy use, such as waiting to perform energy-intensive tasks like running dishwashers or charging electric vehicles (EVs) until designated off-peak periods.
On average, each 2022 GridRewards user in Westchester and New York City received a direct cash payment of $80 from Logical Buildings, with the top participants earning well over $500, the company said. It added that overall it paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in total rewards to a record-high number of participating customers during the summer peak season.
Grid impact
During the 2022 peak season, changes to user energy usage reduced the energy load on the local grid by a collective 30MW, effectively creating a distributed virtual power plant (VPP) and reducing the need for a fossil-fuel-powered peaker plant.
Logical Buildings was a participant in DISTRIBUTECH’s Initiate! start-up program in 2019.
“Users are not just earning money and reducing their energy bills, they’re mitigating utility infrastructure costs by reducing the need for expensive peaker plants to support the grid during periods of high demand. Our team and customers will continue to emphasize these impacts as we ramp up GridRewards enrollment efforts for the 2023 season,” said Jeff Hendler, CEO of Logical Buildings. “With GridRewards, we’re creating a network of community climate leaders ready to take control of their energy use for the betterment of the environment.”
Sustainability
In Westchester County, Logical Buildings partnered with non-profit sustainability consortium, Sustainable Westchester for both a single family home and commercial business pilot program that utilizes GridRewards, solar and residential energy storage.
During summer 2022, users in the Sustainable Westchester program had a combined load reduction of 7 MW, up from an estimated 3.5-4 MW in 2021. Municipalities also participated by enrolling their Village Halls, Recreation Centers, Libraries and Fire Department and by encouraging their residents to get involved.
“Together, Logical Buildings and Sustainable Westchester have seen another year of impactful results driven by Westchester County residents using Grid Rewards,” said Jim Kuster, Interim Executive Director at Sustainable Westchester. “The growth in users, their commitment to engaging with the platform and taking action when prompted proves that they believe in our shared goal of reducing carbon emissions which also provides valuable grid services.”
Multi-family properties
Logical Buildings also works with multifamily real estate companies across greater NYC. Its SmartKit AI platform draws on data from AMI meters, building controls and IoT networks and allows building operators to engage in similar energy-saving and revenue-generating opportunities at their properties.
Logical Buildings said it believes that user growth, engagement, and data acquisition across both GridRewards and SmartKit AI will become more essential as building operators seek to improve building efficiency and lower emissions to comply with upcoming regulations, including Local Law 97, which sets strict emissions limits for multifamily buildings starting in January 2024.
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