- By Stephen Kimball
- Business & Technology
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According to Herb Dwyer, President of ASI Energy, "As an innovative, New York State based, veteran-owned business, ASI Energy is thrilled to be a partner in three prize winning projects. We strongly believe these projects have the potential to significantly change the way these communities generate energy in a way that's more reliable, secure, and highly efficient. Not only will it save money for these communities but will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
About NY Prize NY Prize is a first-in-the nation $40 million competition to help communities create microgrid—standalone—energy systems that can operate independently in the event of a power outage. During Stage 1, competitively selected communities receive funding to conduct engineering assessments that evaluate the feasibility of installing and operating a community microgrid at proposed sites in New York State.
Winning Projects
Syracuse
The Syracuse area has suffered outages, notably a 1998 Labor Day storm that caused $5 million in damage to local schools and disrupted power for days. The proposed microgrid would combine on-site combined heat and power with solar and the community's largest distributed generation source, the waste-to-energy facility owned by the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA).
Binghamton
The City of Binghamton has sustained more than its share of flood-related damages—in both 2006 and 2011, much of the city was submerged during these unexpected "100/500" year floods. During these events, the city either lost or experienced diminished services of electricity, potable water, police and fire protection, as well as housing. The proposed microgrid would include combined heat and power, solar, and hydroelectric power. Power would be provided to Binghamton City Hall, Binghamton Police Department, Binghamton Fire Department, Binghamton Water Treatment Plant, YMCA of Broome, YWCA of Binghamton, Twin River Commons Student Housing Complex, Holiday Inn Arena, Bates Troy laundry, Kradjian Properties, Keystone Associates Architects, Engineers and Surveyors, NYSEG.and possible other sites to be determined.
Schenectady
Parts of the City of Schenectady experienced widespread flooding from Hurricanes Irene and Lee, and lost power for more than a week. The proposed microgrid would make use of an existing power system called Marquee Power, operated by Proctors Theater and Arts Center, which also serves as a place of refuge in case of emergencies. Marquee, a district energy system, already provides heating and cooling to 30 nearby businesses and organizations. The proposed microgrid would expand power distribution to current Marquee thermal customers, including city mission, a fire station, a CVS, the Salvation Army, several county buildings, the county jail, the Schenectady County Sheriff's Office, city police headquarters, the city library, a CDTA bus transit hub, and a proposed Amtrak station. The microgrid might also be expanded to include Union College, Ellis Hospital, Golub Corp., the proposed casino, and Schenectady County Community College. ASI is intending to consider other sites under this program.
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