The Corridor Journal of Strategic Alliances Sustainable Energy & The Environment | Page 6

State Energy Policy
and Long Island

Act fast—The Energy
Landscape is Changing

Beth Fiteni, MSEL
The nature of life is change, and the
field of energy is no different. Long
Island has seen many variations
in its energy generation over the
past 15 years, and more change
is afoot. While the state and utility
companies have been offering
incentives for years to encourage
efficient energy use, under the new
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV)
laid out by Governor Cuomo’s
office and the NY Public Service
Commission, NY State plans to
encourage utilities to address our
aging electric infrastructure and
shift towards more distributed
generation sources to be better
prepared in the occurrence of
storms.
A goal of REV is to “fundamentally transform the way electricity
is distributed and used in New York State…utilities will
actively manage and coordinate a wide range of distributed
resources, or generate electricity from many small energy
sources and link them together.” The goals are “to improve
system efficiency, empower customer choice, and encourage
greater penetration of clean generation and energy efficiency
technologies and practices.”
One key component of this is a new program called NY Prize,
a first-of-its kind $40 million competition to inspire a new
generation of local power by challenging New York businesses,
entrepreneurs and electric utilities to design and implement
community-based microgrids in the State. As opposed to
energy being produced by one large centralized power plant,
microgrids are local energy networks able to fully separate
from the larger electrical grid during extreme weather events
and emergencies. If there is a power outage, microgrids can
help communities provide vital public services and power to
residential customers and critical operators such as hospitals,
first responders and water treatment facilities. They can also
add electricity to the main grid during times when overall
demand is highest.
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Microgrids can distribute electricity
generated locally by solar, other
renewable energy installations or
combined heat and power systems
at local sites, as well as energy
storage technology where the
energy can be stored for later use.
See www.nyserda.ny.gov/ny-prize.
NYSERDA, the New York State
Energy Research and Development
Authority, is a public benefit
corporation started in 1975, with a
mission of “Advancing innovative
energy solutions in ways that
improve New York’s economy
and environment.” To align with
the new Vision, NYSERDA has
proposed a $5 billion Clean Energy
Fund (CEF), which is proposed to
replace multiple funding sources (System Benefits Charge
(SBC), Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EEPS), a