For many years, large commercial and industrial electricity customers have been able to participate in Consolidated Edison’s “demand response” program, through which ConEd pays them for reducing electricity usage during a set of hours that they are alerted to, often a day in advance.
But today, Meltek, a demand response “aggregator,” is changing that by providing these ConEd incentive payments to area residents and small businesses through a new iPhone® and Android™ app. ConEd funds the reward payments because the payments save money for the utility compared to the cost of providing peak-demand electricity, and the reduced load improves the electrical grid’s reliability.
All 3.3 million Con Edison customers (residences and businesses) are eligible to sign up for Meltek’s free service by downloading the Meltek app in the Apple App Store® or on Google Play or by visiting app.meltek.io.
Once a user signs up with Meltek and connects their ConEd account number, Meltek can send easy-to-follow text or email alerts, letting them know when they can earn money by postponing large appliance usage, such as washing machines and dishwashers, adjusting thermostats (including pre-cooling their home/business before the demand response window), switching off lights, or unplugging electrical devices.
The exact ways of saving electricity are up to the customer, and ConEd and Meltek have structured the demand response program so that no customer can lose money by signing up (for free) with Meltek. Signing up with Meltek does not change a customer’s electric service provider or otherwise alter the relationship with Con Edison.
The electricity produced during peak hours by so-called “peaker” power plants is often the most polluting and carbon-intensive, so the energy savings also reduce air pollution in local communities and combat climate change.
Peaker plants, which are expensive to maintain and typically emit a lot of pollution due to their age and use of fossil fuels, have a detrimental impact on environmental and air quality in New York. Using these power plants on hot summer days to meet air conditioning demand can exacerbate poor air quality conditions in nearby communities. Within ConEd territory, there are fifteen oil- or gas-fired peaker plants, stretched across all five boroughs of New York City.
