National Grid Releases Plans for Innovation, Customer Opportunities, and a Clean Energy Future

National Grid has submitted its 2018 Distributed System Implementation Plan, providing a detailed roadmap for building the capabilities necessary to integrate more distributed energy resources, support markets for innovative products and services, and drive further progress toward New York’s clean energy goals. 

The filing to the Department of Public Service highlights the actions taken the past two years and planned for the next five years to further integrate distributed energy resources into utility planning and operations, support that resource market, and share information that helps customers manage their energy use and developers scope market opportunities.

“The energy landscape is changing – energy supply is becoming more diverse and less carbon intensive, and digitization and decentralization trends are accelerating,” said John Bruckner, president, National Grid – New York.  “At National Grid, we understand the critical role we play in enabling and supporting this clean energy transition and we are committed to providing a more efficient energy delivery system that meets the evolving needs of our customers.”

The plan provides developers access to detailed, interactive maps to identify favorable locations for locating energy resources.  Streamlined and transparent interconnection processes are bringing projects online faster and more easily, allowing for detailed tracking of application status.

Increased availability of customer and system data through user-friendly tools helps developers understand the market and serve customer needs, while also creating more informed and empowered energy consumers.

Additionally, the use of distributed energy resources as alternatives to traditional utility investment is expanding market opportunities for developers, driving innovation and testing new operational and business models.

National Grid’s plan addresses areas ranging from grid integration of electric vehicles and energy storage to advanced network and customer data as a tool for integrated planning.

The biennial DSIP filings are a core component of the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative, providing the utilities’ individual plans for developing distributed system platforms and modernizing the grid.  To inform their filings, the utilities engaged stakeholders to exchange information and solicit input. 

National Grid’s filing is available at: http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId={9E306044-DF6B-44CC-9E8C-966436E77999}

Highlights of the plans submitted by the state’s utilities include:

• Customer Opportunities: Providing online tools to engage customers and address their needs in a growing energy marketplace by offering convenient household usage data, personalized energy savings recommendations, rebates on efficient home and appliance products, and other tools to help customers save energy;
• Customer Privacy: Implementing anonymity standards to protect customer privacy; 
• Market Opportunities: Expanding market opportunities for developers of innovative clean energy solutions to participate in projects that will eliminate or delay the need for traditional utility infrastructure, or non-wires alternatives, with 45 such opportunities currently available in locations on the grid that can benefit the system by lowering costs;
• Access to Information: Increasing access and usability of stakeholder-requested information and Request For Proposal (RFP) opportunities through improved online portals based on the business needs of developers; enhancement of the Joint Utilities website and individual utility portals provides greater transparency and efficiency for developers in non-wires alternatives opportunities;
• Data Visualization: Providing more detailed, user-friendly data visualizations to identify favorable locations for siting DER — including new, interactive maps showing how much DER can be accommodated at various grid locations;
• Enhanced Interconnection Process: Creating a more automated, streamlined, and transparent interconnection process to bring projects online faster and easier and allow for detailed tracking of application status;
• Innovation: Continuing to invest in demonstrations, pilot projects, and other programs to explore potential new technologies (including storage solutions and electric vehicles), service offerings, and operating and business models that will enable DER market growth and generate a greater understanding of how to deploy solutions across a utility service area to address system needs;
• Value: Promoting opportunities for distributed energy resources to receive compensation reflective of the value they provide to the system by refining the payment mechanism for DER injections to the grid and working with the New York Independent System Operator to expand market mechanisms for companies offering advanced energy solutions to compete in the marketplace; and
• Reliability and Safety: Investing in foundational technologies to maintain electric system reliability and safety under current and future DER penetrations while enabling advanced market functions and services.

About National Grid

National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company that supplies the energy for more than 20 million people through its networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain. 

National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Read more about the innovative projects happening across our footprint in The Democratization of Energy, an eBook written by National Grid’s US president, Dean Seavers. 

For more information please visit our website. You can also follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, friend us on Facebook, find our photos on Instagram.

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