Guidelines established for smart grid development

The New York State Public Service Commission has demonstrated the desire to increase the electrical grid's efficiency by adopting a policy statement establishing regulatory policies and guidelines to develop New York's smart grid electric system. With input from New York State's electric utilities, technology companies, hardware and software vendors, consumer representatives, not-for-profit organizations and governmental governmental entities, the guidelines are a comprehensive approach to meeting New York's energy policy goals.

The guidelines state that utilities are to pursue established and reliable technologies that can provide a certain return on investment; smart grid technologies will utilize both public and private networks; utilities must provide customers with basic information about smart grid technology and a customer education plan; smart grid projects, rate recovery will be addressed through traditional means; utilities can start to develop smart grid plans/projects with existing industry standards; utilities must develop and maintain cyber security standards; and utilities/third-party providers must protect customer privacy.

For more information visit http://www.smartmeters.com/the-news/smart-grid-news/2541-new-york-adopts-smart-grid-policy.html.

National Grid provides Upstate Cancer Center with $6.24 million in upgrades

National Grid has provided SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse with $6.24 million in electrical upgrades critical for the creation of the Upstate Cancer Center. The Upstate Cancer Center is one of the few hospitals in the nation to be accredited by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer and offers the most comprehensive cancer treatments in Central New York.

The most critical electrical upgrades include underground electrical cables, power feeds and conduit. Not only will the upgrades provide the Cancer Center with adequate power, the project will help spur University Hill development by providing the area with more power.

For more information visit http://whatsupatupstate.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/electrical-upgrades-by-national-grid-help-upstate-cancer-center-rest-of-university-hill/.

Didier Lacroix appointed as MicroGen's strategic adviser

MicroGen Systems, Inc. has signed Didier Lacroix as the company's strategic adviser. As a veteran of the Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) industry, Didier Lacroix has extensive knowledge, insight and contacts that will be critical to the success of MicroGen's MEMs-based Piezoelectric Vibrational Energy Harvester (PZEH) product line, BOLT. Harvesting vibrational energies from 50-120 Hz, the BOLT line are designed to power low-power electronic devices, such as sensor nodes for wireless sensor network applications.

Along with the tangible benefits that Didier Lacroix will bring to the company, his signing on with MicroGen is a complement to the company and a huge endorsement for it's technology.

MicroGen Systems, Inc. is one our portfolio companies.

For more information on Didier Lacroix's appointment visit http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8685609.htm.

National Grid announces that it has no intention of selling Niagara Mohawk

Steve Holliday, the chief executive of National Grid has announced that it has no intention of selling Niagara Mohawk, the utilities branch that serves upstate New York. The announcement comes after much speculation about the sale of Niagara Mohawk, spawning from a series of newspaper articles in the company's home country, Great Britain.

Although the utility is not planning on selling is Upstate New York subsidiary, National Grid is cutting 1,200 non-union jobs in the United States. With 12,000 of the 18,000 company's American employees working in New York, Niagara Mohawk is bound to take a significant hit. Steve Holliday also mentioned that if an offer was made for more than the company thought it was worth they would consider selling.

Fore more information visit http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/national_grid_execs_say_there.html.

CUNY creates groundbreaking solar feasibility map for NYC

With help from the City of New York and the Department of Energy, The City University of New York (CUNY) has created an interactive solar map of the city. Composed of data collected from an airplane equipped with Light Detection and Ranging Laser technology, the map provides information for every rooftop in the city. Maximum kilowatts, money/carbon savings, zoning information and roof size are provided for the site, allowing owners to determine the feasibility of installing solar panels.

The map shows that two thirds of all the rooftops in New York City are suitable for solar power generation, an amount that if full could meet half of the City's electricity needs.

For more information visit http://inhabitat.com/nyc/nyc-solar-map-two-thirds-of-city-rooftops-are-suitable-for-solar-panels/.
To access the map visit http://nycsolarmap.com/.

Upstate New York's biggest rainwater harvest system being built at Binghamton University

Binghamton University is in the process of constructing the largest rainwater harvesting project in Upstate New York. The system is being built in conjunction with the University's Center of Excellence, and will recycle a whopping 200,000 gallons of rainwater. The water will be used for heating and cooling, toilet water and other non-drinking applications.

Set to open early 2013, the Center of Excellence has the potential of saving 1.5 million gallons of municipal water. Designed to be LEED gold, the rainwater harvesting system will be only one of the Center's strategies for efficiency.

For more information visit http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20110726/NEWS01/107260383/Binghamton-U-intends-gain-from-rain.

NYSERDA releases an RFP for research on existing clean technolgies

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has released a Request for Proposals from those interested in analyzing the status and potential of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies within the state. The information will then be used to support program development efforts, aid the preparation of the 2013 State Energy Plan and help NYSERDA evaluate the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency/ renewable energy technologies and programs. Additionally the findings will help State agencies identify energy efficiency and renewable energy resource options.

Proposals are due by 5pm on August 25, 2011.

To view the full RFP visit http://www.nyserda.org/funding/2326rfp.asp.

AMD, NYSERDA, HP and Clarkson University partner for clean technology progression

AMD, NYSERDA, HP and Clarkson University have aligned to research a solution to the challenge of channeling renewable energy directly to data centers, bypassing the electrical grid. AMD has identified the distributed computing model of their Cloud Computing Technology to parallel the distributed power-generation model of solar and wind energy and has the goal of co-locating such dynamic computing resources with dynamic energy sources to improve the economics, performance and environmental benefits of both.

NYSERDA has provided funding for the project which is composed of two phases, student data-management research at Clarkson University and the incorporation of hardware elements, including HP's Performance Optimized Datacenter, based on the AMD Opteron Processor, which was built for energy efficiency and cloud computing.

For more information visit http://virtualization.sys-con.com/node/1927749.

Governor Cuomo signs the Power NY Act!

Governor Cuomo has signed the Power NY Act of 2011, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that makes the permitting process for new energy plants more efficient/ environmentally conscious, and creates on-bill financing for measures taken in energy efficiency.

The legislation encourages investment in clean power plants, and creates measures in environmental protection and public-health. Such measures include legal funding for communities to participate in the permitting process, the creation of a siting board to calculate environmental impacts to be avoided/minimized by applicants and the promulgation of emission standards by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Also included in the act is an environmental justice provision that prevents low-income areas from bearing unjust levels of air-pollution.

The on-bill financing created by the act is the first of its kind in the nation. By allowing residents to finance energy retrofits on their utility bill, the program has the potential to significantly reduce New York's energy-use, while creating high-quality jobs.

For more information visit http://governor.ny.gov/press/08042011NYLegislation.

NYSERDA provides $2,225,000 for clean energy technology business development!

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has released a PON for the Commercialization Option Program, which helps foster the growth of clean energy technology companies. The program has a total of $2,225,000 to be invested in business plan development, market research, sales forecasting, marketing and sales strategy development, supply chain and strategic partnership development and intellectual property analysis/protection.

NYSERDA will conduct a webinar on August 17th for those interested in participating. The first round of proposals are due September 19th.

To view the PON visit http://www.nyserda.org/funding/2251pon.asp.

National Grid's Small & Medium Business Direct Install Program on track to exceed year-end goals!

SmartWatt Energy, the sole Program Administrator and Implementation contractor for National Grid's Small & Medium Business Direct Install Program has announced that they have met their mid-year goals.  The program was created to help businesses increase their energy-efficiency, while helping New York meet it's goal of reducing electricity consumption by 15% over the next four years.  It gives eligible Central and Northern New York businesses  the opportunity to receive up to 70% in rebates and on-bill financing for measures taken in energy-efficiency.  Keeping up its current pace, SmartWatt Energy is on track to exceed the programs year-end goal of 60,000 MWH in savings.

Business customers that use an average of 100 Kilowatts or less per month qualify for the Small & Medium Business Direct Install Program.

To participate in the program visit http://www.nationalgridus.com/niagaramohawk/business/energyeff/3_small.asp.