Connecticut, USA, Thursday 22nd February – Piclo, the global leading marketplace for grid flexibility, will collaborate with local stakeholders including United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. and one of Connecticut’s largest electric distribution companies (EDCs), to establish a new local DER-enabled grid flexibility market - the first of its kind in New England.
The new market will enable DER aggregators and Virtual Power Plant operators to earn revenue from flexing their electricity consumption and generation. Connecting them with utilities via a simple, digital marketplace saves time, reduces overall grid costs and boosts grid resiliency.
When utilities do not have sufficient supply to match their demand or identify bottlenecks on their grid, instead of having to purchase expensive bulk power from peaker plants on the wholesale market or shut off customer supply, they could instead pay DER aggregators to provide flexibility. For DER owners, this extra revenue stream represents new business opportunities and access to new markets.
Aggregating residential and commercial demand and supply can also offer new income avenues to support underserved communities in line with Connecticut’s equity goals and the federal community benefit and Justice40 Initiative. As harnessing DER flexibility can be a cheaper alternative, the savings can be passed onto customers, particularly as affordability is a key issue in Connecticut, which has some of the highest electricity rates in North America. Additionally, this will help the state meet its ambitious electrification and 100% zero carbon electric sector goals by 2040 and Connecticut's Framework for an Equitable Modern Grid.
Frank Reynolds, President & CEO of United Illuminating, said:
“The challenges the electric industry faces are well-known, but not insurmountable. With the help of companies like Piclo, we can begin to create greater grid flexibility and resiliency by harnessing Distributed Energy Resources, which will reduce carbon emissions and create cost-savings that can be passed onto customers. I am proud of our team’s partnership with Piclo and look forward to working with them as they implement New England’s first local grid flexibility market later this year.”
John Bayard, Chief Commercial Officer of Piclo said:
“Being selected to deliver New England’s first local grid flexibility market in partnership with local stakeholders including UI is a huge moment for Piclo. Building on the lessons learned from our successes in New York with National Grid, we’re looking forward to bringing our market leading technology and years of experience building grid flexibility markets world-wide to support Connecticut’s vision and our mission to deliver a 100% zero carbon electricity grid by 2040.”
Funded through the Innovative Energy Solutions (IES) Program led by Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, the new local grid flexibility market will launch in Spring 2024.
For more information on this project register your interest here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H07KjY10
The United Illuminating Company (UI) is a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. Established in 1899, UI operates approximately 3,600 miles of electric distribution lines and 138 miles of transmission lines. It serves approximately 341,000 customers in the greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas of Connecticut. UI received the Edison Electric Institute’s Emergency Recovery Award in 2019 and 2021. For more information, visit www.uinet.com.
The Connecticut Innovative Energy Solutions (IES) Program is a statewide initiative to identify, pilot, and scale innovative ideas that enable a decarbonized, affordable, and equitable electric grid for Connecticut.
With a budget of up to $5 million per project, the IES Program provides resources and support for the implementation of innovative projects over the course of a 12-to-18-month period. Projects that demonstrate benefits, cost-effectiveness, and scalability will have the opportunity to be deployed at scale in Connecticut.
The IES Program presents an exciting opportunity for third-party innovators and technology developers to establish collaborative partnerships with Connecticut’s two investor-owned EDCs, and play an active role in enabling Connecticut’s decarbonized energy future.
Find out more at https://ct-ies.com/
[This notice was update on 26th March, 2024]
Piclo’s mission is to decarbonise the grid. We develop software solutions that make our energy networks smarter, flexible and more sustainable. Piclo Max, our market access platform, enables flex sellers (such as EV and battery owners) to access all electricity markets from one place. Piclo Flex, our flexibility services marketplace, enables flex buyers (system operators) to source flexible electricity from flex sellers during times of high demand or low supply.
To date, Piclo has over 300,000 registered flexible assets representing 22 GW of registered flex capacity, with flexibility contracts awarded totalling £74m and 2.6 GW+ of flexible capacity procured.
Piclo currently operates in six global markets: in the UK, supporting all six Distribution System Operators (UK Power Networks, SP Energy Networks, Electricity North West, Northern Powergrid, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks and National Grid Electricity Distribution); and the Transmission System Operator (TSO) (the ESO); in Ireland (ESB Networks), Italy (E-Distribuzione), Portugal (E-REDES)); in Australia (CitiPower, Powercor); and in the United States in New York State (National Grid) and Connecticut (United Illuminating). Aside from its leading position in the UK, Piclo has a growing presence in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific.
For more information book a demo, follow us on LinkedIn, and watch us on YouTube.