Renewable energy: keeping costs, production & demands in check

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Long Island’s position as a leading adopter of technology and renewable energy is reaching fruition, and will continue to pay dividends in meeting increasing demand for power, while keeping costs and carbon production under control.

The South Fork Wind Farm, which began providing energy to Long Island for the first time in December, is on track to reach full capacity in the coming days, according to executives of Long Island Power Authority, it’s a milestone that puts a spotlight on the region’s leadership.

It also comes as Long Island has continued to lead the rest of New York State in the adoption of electric vehicles, and maintains a brisk pace of embracing rooftop solar across Nassau and Suffolk counties.

The sum of it all places the region at a very busy intersection of change for the energy industry.

“It’s sort of like a three-legged stool that we have to balance,” said Gary Stephenson, senior vice president of power supply at LIPA. “The three legs of the stool are affordability, reliability and sustainability. And if one of those legs is broken, the stool’s not going to stand up very well.”

Sustainability, in this case, focuses largely on decarbonization efforts that line up with federal and state goals.

“We’ve got all these very challenging goals on the supply side to decarbonize the fleet,” Stephenson said. “But if we can’t do that in a way that is affordable for customers, then we’re going to run into some significant challenges. If we can’t decarbonize in a way that maintains grid reliability, that’s going to be an enormous challenge to continue on the decarbonization path because people won’t stand for it.”

Interviews with Long Island energy executives point to these trends as key factors in the transition to more renewables, adding affordable energy and meeting increased demand:

• More renewable energy supply—particularly wind and solar – will continue to play a vital role over both short and long terms.
• As electric vehicles and residential and commercial heat pumps increase in adoption, managing demand on the grid will require continued efficiency as well as programs such as PSEG-Long Island’s Time of Day rates, which are now available to incentivize off-peak power use.
• Long-term projections show energy costs should stay stable over time, as efficiency programs, newer technology and cheap renewables balance growing thirst for more electricity.

LIPA, which owns the region’s grid, maintains an integrated resource plan calls for use of 70 percent renewable energy by 2030, a zero-carbon electric grid by 2040, and encouragement of broad adoption of heat pumps and electric vehicles along the way.

Other energy companies such as  SUNation Energy, which delivers rooftop and other solar solutions to customers—and

contractors who have been installing thousands of residential heat pumps across Long Island—have been transitioning the region into next-generation energy solutions.

Federal tax incentives, which can provide savings of up to 30 percent on solar installations, and the $5,000 New York State rebate program help lower the total cost of deployment for homeowners, says Richard Murdocco, SUNation Energy vice president of marketing and client experience.

Legislation is now pending within state Senate and Assembly committees, which would boost the state solar rebate to up to $10,000—a move Murdocco says would help at the very moment the region is working to increase available energy.

“The whole system is interconnected,” Murdocco said, and as energy demand increases, solar and renewables help meet the need. But, he said, “the efficiency of all these items is better, too. Our demand [for energy] rose but the efficiency of the technology grows as well.”

Which makes increasing the financial incentives for solar installation even more of a sensible solution.

And efficiency is a big part of LIPA’s long-term roadmap for keeping energy costs level.

“The beauty of heat pumps is that they produce three to five times as much heat energy, and then in the summertime, they produce air conditioning for [commercial and residential] buildings.”

He says that the utility company’s goal this year is to convert 3,600 housing units—both new construction and existing—from oil or gas to heat pumps.

Voltz also noted that, even with 85,000 buildings now fitted with rooftop solar throughout Long Island, the buildout there continues apace at several thousand new conversions a year.

PSEG Long Island is also boosting incentives in another way: Time of Day rates that provide discounts of up to 40 percent for customers who opt in and push most of their electricity use to off-peak, overnight hours. Particularly for those who might charge their electric vehicles at home, doing this during overnight hours can help balance demand on the grid as well as keep monthly bills lower, Voltz said.

National Grid would agree with this assessment, especially related to customers seeking more and more ways to become energy and efficient and green within their homes and businesses.

“Over the last 20 years, we have seen growths in commercial and residential customers taking actions to make major energy improves in their properties and homes,” Wendy Frigeria, spokeswoman for National Grid, said. She noted that the company has, and continues, to work with customers “by providing energy reduction programs or service that have helped them identify areas of needs and incentives” for efficiency.

For LIPA’s Stephenson, innovation and opportunity are entering a new era with opportunities for the region.

“The future for utilities is a lot more interesting and exciting,” Stephenson said. “And it’s really important for us to get our customers engaged with that.”