August 18, 2008—Energy curtailment specialists Atco Properties & Management (Atco), a major real estate company based in New York City, has enrolled several of their commercial buildings in an energy conservation program known as “PowerPay! New York” in an effort to reduce blackouts and brownouts across New York State.
PowerPay! New York, a demand response program administered by Energy Curtailment Specialists, Inc. (ECS), will pay Atco for cutting back on electricity in select areas of their properties throughout New York City. Atco’s commitment to reduce during a declared emergency situation is considered a capacity resource, which comes with a significant payment.
Atco says it had decided to enroll in ECS’ risk-free program to take advantage of unique benefits that most other programs do not offer, including free metering to track their electricity usage and day-ahead notice of an event.
When the electric grid is forecasted to be unstable, ECS says it will notify Atco in advance, and they will respond by reducing lighting, pre-cooling the air conditioning, and shutting down elevators and other non-critical equipment.
