ALBANY —The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today approved Consolidated Edison Company of New York’s (Con Edison) and Orange and Rockland Utilities’ (O&R) smart home demonstration programs. The programs seek to provide residential and small commercial customers utilizing rooftop solar or other distributed energy resources the opportunity to better manage their energy costs. These programs, which support Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Green New Deal, will help customers align their energy use to prices which will help reduce their energy costs and reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change.

“This program will enhance and encourage the use of smart devices and residential solar by rewarding customers for their smart and efficient energy consumption,” said Commission Chair John B. Rhodes. “Empowering customers by providing them more choice in how they manage and use electricity is a central element of the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to build a clean, resilient and affordable energy system.”

In its Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding, the Commission directed each of New York State’s six investor-owned utilities to develop demonstration proposals to support REV’s goals to combat climate change and build a cleaner more resilient and affordable energy system. On February 1, 2017 Con Edison and O&R filed their proposal. The remaining four, National Grid, Central Hudson, Rochester Gas and Electric and New York State Electric and Gas, all have proposals in development.

The focus of this demonstration project is to gauge customer acceptance of innovative rate structures combined with proactive energy management tools and technology, which when used effectively, will reward customers for managing their usage in ways that support the needs of the energy system as a whole.

The concept is intended to advance ratemaking reform and encourage active market participation enabling program participants to more fully exploit distributed energy resources. The rate designs are intended to be more reflective of cost drivers on the companies’ transmission and distribution systems, as well as reflective of the energy and capacity markets.

The project includes two opt-in tracks for participants: Track 1 participants will receive price-responsive automation technology to optimize their central-air-conditioning loads. Track 2 participants will receive price-responsive storage systems to optimize their overall usage, taking into account the output of their existing rooftop photovoltaic systems. Track 1 participants receive a price guarantee for the first 12 months of participation, whereas Track 2 participants will not receive a price guarantee but will instead be able to keep the storage system at the end of the project. The companies expect to enroll approximately 2,350 participants in the demonstration project and begin the program in October of this year.

New York State’s Green New Deal

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s Green New Deal, the nation’s leading clean energy and jobs agenda, will aggressively put New York State on a path to economy-wide carbon neutrality This initiative will provide for a just transition to clean energy, spurring the growth of the green economy and mandating New York's power be 100 percent clean and carbon-free by 2040, one of the most aggressive goals in the U.S. The cornerstone of this newly proposed mandate is a significant increase of New York's successful Clean Energy Standard to 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030. As part of the unprecedented ramp-up of renewable energy, New York has already invested $2.9 billion into 46 large-scale renewable projects across the state as it significantly increases its clean energy targets, such as: quadrupling New York's offshore wind target to a nation-leading 9,000 megawatts by 2035; doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000 megawatts by 2025; and deploying 3,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030. To support this ambitious work, NY Green Bank intends to use its expertise in overcoming financing gaps to foster greater environmental impacts per public dollar by raising over $1 billion in third party funds to expand climate financing availability across New York and the rest of North America.

Reforming the Energy Vision

The Green New Deal builds on Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's landmark Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to lead on climate change and grow New York's economy. REV is building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers by stimulating investment in clean technologies like solar, wind, and energy efficiency. Already, REV has driven growth of nearly 1,500 percent in the statewide solar market, improved energy affordability for 1.65 million low-income customers, and has led to more than 150,000 jobs in manufacturing, engineering, and other clean tech sectors across New York State.

To learn more about the Green New Deal and REV, visit rev.ny.gov, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Today’s decision may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s Web site at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Number 18-E-0548 (Con Edison) or 18-E-0549 (O&R) in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.