National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)NREL HomeInnovation for Our Energy Future
About NREL Science and Technology Technology Transfer Applying Technologies Learning About Renewables
Energy Analysis Energy Collaborative Analysis Initiative

More Search Options   
Site Map
Features
Energy Collaborative Analysis Initiative Newsletter
ECAI Home

Overview

Analysis Collaborative Topics

Collaborators

Analysis Activities by Organization

Inaugural Workshop

Contact

Analysis Activities (by Organization)

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

Representative: Paul A. DeCotis

Address: 17 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-6399

Web site(s): http://www.nyserda.org/
http://www.nyserda.org/programs/Energy_Analysis/default.asp

Organizational Objectives – Analysis

NYSERDA's mission is to use innovation and technology to address New York's most difficult energy and environmental challenges in ways that improve the state's economy, serving as a catalyst for change.

NYSERDA's goals include:

  1. Improving the state's energy system reliability and security by increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy demand, supporting innovative transmission and distribution technologies that have broad application, and enabling fuel diversity, including renewable resources.
  2. Reducing the energy cost burden on New Yorkers by offering energy users, particularly the state's lowest income households, services that moderate the effect of energy price increases and volatility and provide access to cost-effective energy efficiency options.
  3. Mitigating the environmental and health impacts of energy use by increasing energy efficiency, encouraging the development of support services for renewable energy resources, and optimizing the energy performance of buildings and products.
  4. Creating economic opportunity and promoting economic well being by supporting emerging energy technologies, fostering competition, improving productivity, growing New York energy businesses, and helping to meet future energy needs through efficiency and innovation.

NYSERDA's Energy Analysis Program was established in July 1995 to serve the state's energy policy and planning needs and to provide relevant and timely data and analysis to energy industry stakeholders. Energy Analysis assists decision makers by: (1) reducing planning and decision uncertainty – by forecasting energy demand and prices and through the quantitative analysis of energy issues and polices; (2) identifying policy alternatives for addressing vital public needs, and (3) assessing the impact of selected energy, environmental, and economic policies on the State's citizens' and businesses and environment.

Analysis Activities – Relevance to Priority Topics

Energy Analysis uses modeling and analytical tools to quantify economic, environmental, and market impacts of alternative energy resources and regulatory policies – either directly, or through contractors. Energy Analysis develops state-specific, long-term forecasts for energy demand and prices in all customer sectors. Types of policy impacts evaluated include:

  • energy prices
  • new electricity generation capacity requirements
  • energy diversity
  • energy imports and exports
  • air pollutant emissions
  • cost of environmental compliance
  • gross state product
  • net job creation

Energy Analysis provided the analytical underpinnings to support the development and implementation processes for numerous innovative and ground-breaking environmental regulations proposed and or initiated in New York.

Most recently, Energy Analysis staff led the multistate electricity system modeling to support the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a consortium of northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States established to develop a Model Rule for a carbon cap-and-trade program in the electricity sector. This initiative is expected to result in the first environmental regulations in the nation to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity generation plants on a regional basis. In addition, Energy Analysis staff is applying its analytical expertise to assist the Department of Environmental Conservation in developing New York State's regulatory response to federally mandated limits on acid-rain precursors and emissions of mercury.

Energy Analysis has developed the modeling capability to estimate the net macroeconomic impact of the New York Energy $martSM program. Impacts result from expenditures of program funding in New York's economy and the energy savings sustained over the life of the energy-efficiency measures implemented. Macroeconomic analysis is a key component of the benefit-cost analysis used to evaluate the effectiveness of individual programs. Energy Analysis also performed modeling analyses of a range of alternative energy scenarios to guide development of the past two State Energy Plans.

Energy Analysis has licenses for several proprietary computer software models for use in its analytical activities, including:

  1. GE Multi-Area Production Simulation (MAPS). This software models the operation of the New York, New England, and Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland electricity systems, including information about system loads, generation, and bulk transmission. MAPS simulates hourly dispatch of electricity generating units based on minimum production costs and considering transmission constraints. Model outputs include zonal locational-based marginal prices, generation mix, emissions, and transmission constraints.
  2. ICF International's Integrated Planning Model (IPM). This modeling software is for analytical policy and electric system planning support, such as to support the RGGI modeling and stakeholder process. IPM is an optimization model solving electricity-only system based exogenous demand assumptions. It optimizes the generation system by strategically adding new units, retirements, repowering, etc., given system transmission constraints as well as user-defined constraints like a carbon cap and/or RPS requirement. It can treat energy efficiency as a supply resource, so costs and benefits of energy efficiency are done within the model with a consistent framework.
  3. Macroeconomic models, including Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) and IMPLAN. These software tools model the macroeconomic system of New York and its interaction with the economy of the United States. The software simulates inter-industry interactions, sector interactions, and trading flows in and out of New York, based on industry- and location-specific wages, costs of intermediate inputs to production, fuel costs, and taxes. Model outputs include annual net impacts of employment, income, and gross state product for given changes in final demand.
  4. Decision Time and SYSTAT 9 software created by SPSS Inc. These software programs are used to build and analyze linear regression models of Energy demand and price relationships. They are also used to forecast the demand and price of energy.
  5. Optimal, Inc. Cost-Effectiveness Model used to evaluate and assess the cost-effectiveness of NYSERDA's energy programs under various definitions and over time.

During the past year, Energy Analysis has managed several projects for others, including the Public Service Commission (PSC), New York State Department of State (DOS), and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These projects include:

  1. An assessment of the natural gas energy efficiency potential in Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.'s service area. This project was agreed to by parties in the most recently completed Con Edison rate settlement. NYSERDA funded an extension of this study to assess the statewide natural gas efficiency potential. This effort complements a study completed in 2002 by NYSERDA that assessed statewide electric and end-use renewable energy resource potential as part of the State Energy Planning proceeding.
  2. An assessment of the petroleum storage and delivery infrastructures in the New York City, Long Island, and Hudson River regions of the State. The study also considered the interactions of the heating oil markets and natural gas markets during peak winter heating conditions. The study was conducted by ICF Consulting, LLC of Fairfax, Virginia under contract to NYSERDA.
  3. Active participation in and support of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) with Energy Analysis staff leading the modeling team effort among participating states. Modeling was conducted by ICF International under contract to NYSERDA and included scenario planning and development and IPM electricity system modeling.
  4. Analytical support and modeling work for the Department of Environmental Conservation's regulatory impact statement filed with the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform regarding the impacts of implementing the federal Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) in New York.
  5. Analytical support and contract and project management services to the Department of State in support of its role in determining coastal zone consistency of the proposed Broadwater LNG facility in Long Island Sound.

 

Printable Version

 
Skip footer to end of page.

Webmaster  |  Security & Privacy  |  Disclaimer  |  NREL Home