Consolidated edison company of New York: Distributed generation

Abstract

Sustainability is achieved when a company is able to balance its financial, natural, and social capital, leveraging them to derive value for its stakeholders. An appreciation of how these forces work together to positively influence both the development and success of a business, as well as the business’ long-term societal goals, can mean the difference between simply surviving as a company, and thriving. The utility industry is often referred to as being on the verge of a revolution, as technology develops at a quicker pace and customers become more deeply engaged in their energy choices. Customers are evaluating their opportunities for on-site generation, as they now have the option to incorporate cost-effective, cleaner renewable technologies while potentially providing themselves a level of self-sufficiency and resiliency. Distributed generation (DG) can offer a truly sustainable solution—empowering customers with new energy sources, allowing for the development of cleaner technologies such as solar power and energy storage, and providing businesses with new opportunities to improve resiliency and defer or completely eliminate long-term infrastructure investment through targeted reductions in customer load. Con Edison is looking at how DG can be better integrated into its system planning process and long-term strategy. While the technology can present challenges to the utility business model and system design, Con Edison also acknowledges that DG brings benefits to its system and to its customers. Where Con Edison once developed energy forecasts and infrastructure plans based on the unidirectional flow of energy from large-scale generating facilities through to the customer meter, it now considers how a two-way flow of energy, changing load needs, and individual customer impact on the power system are driving the evolution of the modern utility.