Energy Roundtable: Audrey Zibelman

Q: Reforming the Energy Vision Initiative: What is it and why is it important? 

AZ: The challenges New York and other states are facing in the energy marketplace are formidable. Over the next decade, if we continue to do business as usual, New York’s energy consumers and the respective electric utilities will have to invest more than $30 billion to maintain and upgrade the state’s aging delivery and transmission infrastructure system, a substantial figure that does not include much-needed clean energy investments. 

To mitigate the impact of these potential future energy costs, New York has taken a number of major, proactive steps to create a more affordable, resilient and cleaner energy grid, as well as taking a leading role in tackling concerns about the future of energy production, distribution and consumption. Our goal is to achieve resilience, reliability and emission-reduction goals by taking advantage of the declining costs of clean energy and distributed resources by modifying how we regulate and incentivize utilities to use these resources in developing a cleaner, more resilient and affordable power system. 

New York launched its groundbreaking, comprehensive energy initiative Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV, to fundamentally transform the way electricity is distributed and used by consumers in New York State, by modernizing the grid, among other things. REV will promote more efficient use of energy, deeper penetration of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, and wider deployment of “distributed” energy resources, such as microgrids, on-site power supplies and storage. It will also promote greater use of advanced energy management products to enhance demand elasticity and efficiencies. 

Q: What is going on with the state’s Clean Energy Fund? 

AZ: The Clean Energy Fund is part of an overall effort by New York to improve system efficiency, empower customer choice and encourage greater penetration of clean generation and energy efficiency technologies and practices in New York. It is one component of the state’s strategy to bridge the transition from the current portfolio of clean energy programs to the new REV market and required regulatory framework. 

The comprehensive fund will provide continuity of funding for a full suite of ratepayer-funded clean energy initiatives, flexibility to allocate funds among initiatives in response to market conditions, and a transparent upper limit on contributions from ratepayers. In this new model, the utilities will proactively incorporate the deployment of clean, energy-efficient distributed energy resources as a core component of their businesses. 

Q: Is the Con Ed Collaborative that worked on the latest Con Edison rate agreement still active? What is the latest there? 

AZ: The Commission’s recently approved Con Edison rate agreement recognized the impact climate change is having on Con Edison’s energy distribution systems in New York City and Westchester County. As part of that agreement, Con Edison is investing $1 billion over a four-year period to harden and make more resilient its electric, gas and steam systems. The specific elements of the storm-hardening plan were born out of a collaborative effort led by government regulators, utility executives and municipalities, as well as labor, consumer, academic and environmental groups. The collaborative earned high praise nationally because it drew upon the expertise of so many diverse parties and for its willingness to tackle the impact of climate change head-on. The collaborative continues to meet to discuss various long-term issues, such as refining future storm-hardening capital expenditures. Ultimately these discussions will result in a collaborative report to the Commission this fall.