National Grid will continue offering commercial customers who install environmentally friendly on-site generation technologies lower rates for the delivery of electricity.

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) also directed the electric power distribution company to make eligible for rate exemptions combined heat and power technologies that can meet efficiency standards.

"This action helps expand the use of certain environmentally advantageous technologies, and it will better help New Yorkers meet their long-term energy needs," said Commission Chairman Garry Brown.

Interest in clean power generation at commercial customers’ sites continues to grow. The commission said the benefit goes to both to the owners of the onsite resources and to the electric system as a whole. The customers will save money by buying less grid-supplied power, improve reliability, reduce thermal energy consumption, and lower overall energy costs, while the grid operators will benefit from reduced demands for power and for new generation and delivery capacity, improved operational efficiencies, increased system reliability, and lower total system energy consumption, costs, and emissions.

The commissions says combined heat and power, or CHP, is an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source.

Customers with on-site generation, such as small wind turbines and photovoltaic panels, typically require different services than customers who get all of their electricity from the utility.

In its decision, the PSC extended National Grid's exemption for environmentally advantageous technologies to May 31, 2015 and expanded that exemption to include efficient combined heat and power projects of 1 MW or less.

Under the rate exemptions now extended to owners of efficient CHP, customers with on-site generation can select either the generally applicable rate charged for delivery, or a rate, called a standby rate, generally imposed on customers that generate electricity for their own use or sale to others, whichever enables them to realize the most savings. Determining the exact amount of savings a customer will receive is dependent upon the customer's electricity usage and the technology employed.

The Commission's decision today, when issued, may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission's Web site at www.dps.state.ny.us and entering Case Number 11-E-0279 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission orders may also be obtained from the Commission's Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500).