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July 21, 2011

District earns money by reducing grid usage

In order to protect the state electric grid from outages in times of high usage, such as this week’s heat wave or in the event of extreme cold weather, The New York Independent System Operators pay local entities to temporarily switch to generator power, thus reducing their reliance on the grid.

The Golding Middle School building is currently participating in the program, which pays the district for signing a participation contract and offers additional payment for each “event” during which NYISO asks participants to switch their power source from the electric grid to their generators.

“What NYISO pays the district for each event more than offsets the cost of the diesel used to run the generator,” said Bill Himme, supervisor for buildings and grounds.

The only indication that the school is running on a generator is the flickering of the lights when the generator is turned on and off. Using a generator does not impact the daily operation of the school.

Himme said he is in the process of signing up Ryder Elementary building to the program and hopes to eventually add the high school complex as well.

“We need to install some monitoring gear before we can register the high school,” Himme said.

The school typically uses about 250 to 300 kilowatts an hour.

NYISO operates the high-voltage transmission network in New York, administers and monitors the wholesale electricity markets, and plans for the state’s energy future. The NYISO is responsible for the reliable operation of New York’s nearly 11,000 miles of high-voltage transmission and the dispatch of over 500 electric power generators.