Rep. Israel, LIPA President/CEO Kevin Law and Local Business Owners Announce New Federal Funds for Smart Metering Program

$750,000 in Federal Funds Will Allow Businesses and Consumers to Save Money by Monitoring and Adapting Energy Usage

Hauppauge, NY— Monday, U.S. Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water, joined LIPA President and CEO Kevin Law and local business owners to announce initial approval of a new federal program to use smart metering— new metering technology that will allow energy consumers to reduce or shift their energy usage, increase reliability and encourage energy efficiency by facilitating smarter end-user technologies.

“With energy prices at record highs, new technologies that save money and improve efficiency are long overdue,” Israel said. “The funds I secured will help save businesses and families money and make delivery more efficient. This money will allow LIPA to fully test capabilities of this cost-saving technology without adding to the bill of the rate-payers who are already getting hit hard elsewhere.”

LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law, who is placing $300,000 in LIPA’s 2008-2009 capital budget for the smart meter pilot program, was elated by the promise of federal funding. “These funds will go a long way in expanding our smart meter plans,” Law said. “I commend Congressman Israel for recognizing the value of making the federal government a partner with LIPA on projects like this. We must be proactive in tackling our energy issues as the skyrocketing prices of oil and natural gas are ushering in the future prematurely.”

“As an IT managed service provider, mindSHIFT operates thousands of computers and servers for our customers in our Commack (NY) data center, and we use a lot of LIPA-provided electricity in the process.” said Tyler Roye, senior executive officer, mindSHIFT Technologies. “Even a small percentage increase in efficiency from smart metering can give us an edge over competitors, while helping the environment at the same time.”

Smart metering technology is an important first step in modernizing our electric grid. The sharing of information allowed by smart meters will help LIPA to initiate or enhance more advanced programs, including Smart Grid distribution operations improvement and time-differentiated price signals. This smart metering pilot project will involve the installation of smart meters for large and small industrial and commercial customers and residential customers allowing LIPA to test a number of functions:

The ability to collect meter information using the new technology.
The ability to share meter information with the customer in near real time.
The ability to provide pricing signals to the customer.
The ability to detect system conditions, including load and usage along the system.
The ability to send control signals to equipment situated along the distribution system.
The feasibility of various communications schemes and technologies.

Congressman Israel secured initial approval of $750,000 in federal funds for a Smart Metering Pilot Project at LIPA as part of the Energy and Water 2009 funding measure, just passed through the House Appropriations Committee’s Energy and Water Subcommittee on Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The funding will be used to test, study and evaluate smart metering technology in Hauppauge and Bethpage. In selecting the smart metering pilot areas, LIPA sough the best value proposition that balanced technical test-bed requirements and enhanced economic competitiveness by providing customers with the opportunity to better manage their energy costs through flexible time differentiated pricing option and real-time energy usage information. Neighboring residential communities will also be apart of the pilot project.

LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric provider, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 2nd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of electric revenues, 3rd largest in terms of customers served and the 7th largest in terms of electricity delivered. In 2010, LIPA outperformed all other overhead electric utilities in New York State for frequency of service interruptions, and ranked second for duration of service interruptions. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island generating assets. More information about LIPA can be found online at: http://www.lipower.org.

Media Contact Information
Mark Gross
Phone - (516) 719-9892
Media Pager - (516) 229-7248
media.relations@lipower.org

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