Local and federal incentive programs have been some of the best drivers for clean energy adoption across the country. Especially in regions with an established critical need, programs can accelerate deployment in a way that provides significant value both to customers and to the local centralized grid. Where technologies are still expensive for many, these programs make economics more viable, driving greater adoption rates for covered solutions. In New York, there are a number of incentive programs being run by Con Edison in the metropolitan area in order to encourage commercial and industrial business owners to reduce peak demand. Many programs like this fall into the category of non-wires solutions, where Con Edison incentivizes energy solutions that help solve grid-related issues across their service territory. These projects help reduce demand constraints and grid capacity issues through the use of distributed energy resources and other energy solutions.
One such program designed to help the grid and New Yorkers has opened up for Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods in the Con Edison territory. The Brooklyn and Queens Energy Storage Incentive incentivises eligible facilities to install batteries to offer load relief for both buildings and the grid during peak demand hours. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) sized between 50–5,000 kW are eligible for the incentive, and these can be grid connected or load following installations. Grid connected systems will receive $2,500/kW and load following systems $3,000/kW. The application deadline is December 31, 2023, but funds are first come first serve and the program is capped, so those who are interested are encouraged to act quickly.
History of the BQDM Program.
The covered region of Brooklyn and Queens has an established need for demand management and relief of constraints. The team at Con Edison has leveraged a number of programs and incentives over the last few decades to encourage customers to implement energy solutions that reduce the demand on the city’s grid infrastructure.
The Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management Program launched in 2014. The program was designed to avoid a costly substation project in the Brownsville neighborhood and address forecasted load growth by incentivizing ratepayers in Brooklyn and Queens to reduce peak demand through battery energy storage installations. Once the funding for the program expired, it evolved into the Brooklyn-Queens Neighborhood program, offering other incentives for energy efficiency upgrades.
The newly launched energy storage incentive has a similar program structure and lucrative subsidy for participation.
Value of participation.
GridMarket’s analytics team has prepared a sample financial summary for a hypothetical 1MW/4MWh system. Unique use cases will be based on a customer’s energy usage profile, but these sample scenarios demonstrate the value that the program can offer new battery storage projects. As outlined below, installations can be sited and structured in a number of ways – GridMarket can help you understand your options and move forward with the project that best fits your needs and meets program requirements.
Who is a fit for the program?
Project sites must be within the eligible area. A map is available here. This program is a great fit for commercial and industrial businesses who will benefit from the incentive for project deployment, and the operational value of having an onsite battery storage system for demand charge management and emergency backup generation. If you are curious about your opportunity and if you are a fit for the program, we can help!
How GridMarket can help.
Founded and headquartered in New York City, the GridMarket team has unique experience navigating the nuances of urban battery storage development and NYC regulations. GridMarket worked with projects in the original BQDM program, subsequent corresponding programs, and is now positioned as an ideal partner to help customers understand their opportunity and apply to the program. Our digital platform produces an automated opportunity assessment – we tell you your opportunity for an onsite battery installation, how much of the incentive you are eligible for, and how much you can expect to save on demand charges. Our platform will also produce a high level analysis of any other distributed energy solutions that may be a fit for your property. There is no risk, no upfront fee, and no obligation. GridMarket is vendor and technology agnostic. If you choose to move forward with a project, we bid it out to our network of top-tier vendors who compete for your business.
To learn more about our work, please check out this case study of Marcus Garvey Village, the first customer-sided microgrid in the BQDM network, facilitated by GridMarket.