Albany, NY (WRGB) — New York State (and much of the Northeast United States), is in the middle of a heat wave, bringing an “Energy Watch” by the New York Independent System Operator.
“In advance of Thursday’s high temperatures and forecasted demand, NYISO suggests conserving power, if safe to do so, by raising air-conditioning thermostats and postponing unnecessary use of major appliances until demand on the electric system eases,” a statement reads.
On Thursday, New York State officials announced a form of relief for the electric grid, saying they’ve reached 8GW of “distributed solar”, a portion of the State’s climate initiatives that’s ahead of schedule. The benchmark is 10GW by 2030.
“Distributed solar” includes community solar and rooftop solar for homes and businesses. They say it helps limit strain on the electric grid, as it’s considered “behind the meter”, which also means customers don’t have to pay utility companies for the power they generate.
“The milestone of 8 gigawatts is focusing on distributed solar, so these are smaller scale projects, whether that be on someone’s rooftop, a small installation at a commercial building, etc or a community solar project, which many New Yorkers subscribe in for projects that are located in other parts of the state,” Doreen Harris, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO, “It’s a huge driver of investment on the order of $12 billion across our state, as well as a huge jobs creator, over 16,000 jobs in solar across our state, as well. So it’s really a win, win, win in all respects.”
New York offers the NY-Sun Program and the Solar For All Program to help incentivize and lower bills through community solar projects.