Energy Efficiency Programs Help Customers Save Money
NEW YORK, May 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Con Edison is investing in its electric delivery systems, using new technologies, and working with customers to help them use less energy, as another hot New York summer approaches.
The energy company has invested $1.5 billion in its overhead and underground systems in New York City and Westchester County to prepare for this summer.
As an example of how the company is using new and evolving technologies, Con Edison is installing a 12-megawatt hour battery system on company-owned land in Ozone Park, Queens. The company will charge the batteries when demand for power is low and then discharge that power at peak times, taking pressure off the grid.
The batteries can discharge one megawatt for 12 hours or two megawatts for six hours. A megawatt is enough to power up to 1,000 homes in that area.
The storage project is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Neighborhood Program, in which Con Edison works with customers in certain fast-growing areas to help them reduce their usage.
“By making significant investments in our electric delivery systems and deploying new technologies, we provide the reliable service that our customers count on during sweltering summer days,” said Tim Cawley, president of Con Edison. “We’re also making it easier for our customers to choose energy efficiency, solar and other products and services that can help reduce monthly bills and provide a cleaner environment.”
The investment in upgrades and reinforcements includes 18 network transformers and 74 overhead transformers. The company also is replacing or upgrading 37 underground feeder sections and 136 overhead spans.
Con Edison projects that peak demand for electricity will reach 13,300 megawatts. The record is 13,322 megawatts, which occurred at 5 p.m. on July 19, 2013.
The company is always exploring new ways to keep service reliable. Con Edison has installed 1,000 devices in manholes to detect heat and gas in underground structures. By detecting that buildup, the company can make a repair before a cable fails.
Con Edison also takes infrared images of underground cables to look for hot spots that might indicate a repair is needed.
Bill Forecasts, Energy Efficiency, Solar and the Environment
Monthly bills for residential customers in the June-to-September period are expected to be higher than the same period last year, mainly due to higher supply charges, which the company does not control. A smaller portion of the increase is due to higher delivery charges.
A typical New York City residential customer using 350 kilowatt hours per month can expect an 8.4-percent increase from $96.89 in 2017 to $105.02 this year. A typical Westchester residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours per month can expect an average increase of 4.5 percent from $128.24 in 2017 to $133.98.
Monthly bills for business customers are expected to decrease slightly. A New York City business customer using 10,800 kilowatt hours and having a peak demand of 31 kilowatts, can expect average monthly summer bills to decrease from $2,283 in 2017 to $2,274 this year.
Supply charges have been relatively low the past three years but are projected in 2018 to return to about the same levels as 2014. Con Edison projects that summer bills will be slightly lower than four years ago.
Customers can save money by using less energy. Con Edison offers customers incentives to make money-saving upgrades to their homes and businesses. For this summer, Con Edison is offering residential customers:
- A $30 rebate for buying a new Energy Star room air conditioner;
- Up to $25 or more in rewards for enrolling a standard window air conditioner in the company’s smart AC program;
- Up to $95 in rebates and rewards for a Wi-Fi-enabled air conditioner. The company will provide a free Wi-Fi device that lets a customer control a room air conditioner with an app.
- A $50 rebate for buying a smart thermostat and another $85 for registering it with Con Edison.
Since 2009, Con Edison’s energy efficiency programs have helped more than 600,000 customers make upgrades that prevent 1.4 million tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking nearly 300,000 cars off the road. The electric upgrades save nearly 1.8 million megawatt hours of usage.
The company also encourages customers to consider whether solar energy is right for them. Customers have completed 19,000 projects that produce 188.7 megawatts of clean, renewable power. That is equal to 254,158 megawatt hours a year, enough to prevent 189,000 tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of taking more than 40,000 cars off the road.
The customers who have chosen energy efficiency and solar help Con Edison keep service reliable by lowering the amount of power flowing on the grid at peak times.
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $49 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York.
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