Westchester County Expected To Earn Millions By Entering Into ‘Demand Response”

January 11, 2019 – Westchester County has entered into a five-year agreement with NuEnergen, LLC. to provide the County with “Demand Response” program services that may earn the County millions of dollars over the life of the contract as well as provide an opportunity to further enhance its sustainability efforts. Demand response is used as a resource for balancing energy supply and demand and helps protect against unplanned power outages. Demand response programs offer financial incentives to owners of facilities, in this case the County, which can reduce the need for kilowatts (kW) during times of high stress on the region’s electric grid. The contract with NuEnergen was approved by the County’s Board of Acquisition and Contract and commenced on September 1, 2018. With multiple sites eligible for demand response participation, Westchester County can potentially earn new recurring revenue of an estimated $2M annually. As part of this program, the County remains on ‘stand-by’ to lower energy usage during times of stress – like days with sweltering heat. On these “high stress” days, the County would be notified 24-hours in advance of a demand response event beginning and would reduce energy usage at some of its non-essential facilities – i.e. reduce lighting or shift kW (kilowatt) load to on-site generators. The site-specific protocols proposed by NuEnergen will keep each facility fully operational while reducing stress on the power grid. Only a few short hours later, the event would end, and normal operations would resume. The more kW load – or number of facilities – that are enrolled in the program, the higher the earnings for the County would be. Nearly all facilities have back-up generators or power sources in cases where facility operation needs to be in continued use. Similar demand response programs managed by NuEnergen have already proved to be successful with the City of New York, the NY/NJ Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) who have collectively earned millions of dollars since its inception. Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: “This program is a win-win for Westchester residents. It provides revenue through creative solutions to help our well-documented budget gap in the short-term while also reducing the County’s reliance on traditional energy solutions – which is good for our region in the long-term. This is just one example of the inventive fixes my Administration is working on to help us move Westchester forward.” Westchester County Director of Energy Conservation and Sustainability Peter McCartt said: “It is on us in Government to find ways to enhance our sustainability efforts for the good of, not just our County, but for the entire planet. It also helps the people of Westchester by minimizing the risk of brown-outs or black-outs. This is just one of the many ideas we are working on, and the opportunity for increased revenue makes entering into a ‘demand response’ program a no-brainer.” While the County anticipates a Summer 2019 start, there are a few sites that can be readily enrolled for the current winter period. This will allow the County to experience the enrollment, notification and load shed process first-hand with a select number of sites in preparation for a much larger enrollment in Summer 2019. NuEnergen President & CEO Kevin Hamilton said: “NuEnergen is excited to serve Westchester County. Participation in Demand Response programs will guarantee Westchester County recurring revenue that will lend itself as critical aid to the County budget. kW load reduction will also support grid reliability and the avoidance of a blackout, allowing the County to be a good neighbor and contribute to greater cause for the community. Like New York City, Westchester County’s participation will deliver a key sustainability success story and an example of fiscal innovation.” Westchester County Contact: Catherine Cioffi Communications Director (914) 995-2932 CCioffi@westchestergov.com NuEnergen Contact: Katie Curtin Marketing Director (866) 977-0901 x811 KCurtin@nuenergen.com http://blog.nuenergen.com/westchester-county-expected-to-earn-millions-by-entering-into-demand-response-sustainability-programs – Catch the Full Press Conference Here