As part of New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved the creation of a community-based energy consumption data registry that will be launched this summer.
This database will help boost more clean-energy choices for customers, spur private investment into renewable energy, and increase clean-energy jobs, according to John Rhodes, PSC chairman.
The Utility Energy Registry (UER) will be an online platform developed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) supported by electric and gas distribution utilities. Proving streamlined public access to aggregated community-scale utility energy data, the initial UER upload of data will occur by the end of July.
The registry will make community-based energy consumption data more readily available for local municipal planning needs, market research and development of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs. In addition, the registry will increase awareness of energy consumption patterns and promote the adoption of more efficient and cleaner energy. Relying on the information in the registry, energy resources can be more efficiently distributed and system limitations and hosting capacity can be more accurately gauged.
Data collected for the UER includes customer count, installed capacity for small commercial and residential account, number of accounts ineligible for CCA, and total load. New York utilities will upload this information to the UER every six months. And because of the massive amount of information, the UER may need continual refinement, and the PSC required an ongoing, annual input process to address potential adjustments.
“The Utility Energy Registry will be able to help municipalities develop CCAs,” says Javier Barrios, Managing Partner of the New York City-based energy consultant Good Energy. “Cities and towns can identify energy consumption patterns to determine if a CCA is a smart route.”