Con Edison's 'Smart' Ideas Earn Recognition From Consumer Research Group
A consumer research group today bestowed an award on Con Edison for using its new smart meters to improve programs that pay residential customers for reducing their usage at times of high demand.
The Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative named Con Edison winner of its Best Practices Award in the Smart Energy Innovation category. The organization cited Con Edison’s technology that helps aggregators enroll residential customers in demand response programs, which are also called "Smart Usage Programs".
“Con Edison is honored to accept this award and excited about the new opportunities our investments in smart meters and smart grid technology are creating for our customers to earn payments in our innovative demand response programs,” said Greg Elcock, Con Edison’s director of Energy Efficiency and Demand Management. “We are pleased that our system’s additional capabilities were used in the first summer we deployed them. We look forward to seeing more participants.”
Aggregators are third-party companies that recruit customers to participate in demand response programs. Once in a program, a customer earns incentives for reducing energy usage at times when the demand for power is high, usually on hot summer days. That helps Con Edison keep service reliable at these times when a lot of energy is flowing through its grid.
The minimum enrollment threshold for participation is now 10 watts, making it attractive for many residential customers. Customers who would like to participate in the Smart Usage Rewards program can enroll through an approved aggregator.
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 $63 billion in assets. The utility delivers electricity, natural gas and steam, and serves 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. Through Consolidated Edison Inc.’s subsidiary, Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, the company is the second-largest solar developer in the United States and the seventh-largest worldwide. For financial, operations and customer service information, visit conEd.com. For energy efficiency information, visit coned.com/energyefficiency. Also, visit us on Twitter and Facebook.