April 19, 2023

Local speakers discuss how Westchester residents and businesses can receive cash rewards for lowering their energy consumption this summer

See the full press release from Westchester County here 

During Earth Week, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Sustainable Westchester & Local Municipal Leaders held a press conference to discuss Sustainable Westchester’s GridRewards™ Program and other current initiatives residents can participate in to improve the County’s environmental impact. Speakers included local leaders driving the charge to lower the region’s carbon footprint, including Jim Kuster, Interim Executive Director of Sustainable Westchester, David Klatt, COO of Logical Buildings and Alex Von Braun, Board Member of 175 Huguenot in New Rochelle, along with Hastings-on-Hudson Mayor, Nicola Armacost.

Latimer said: “Demand response programs, empower Westchester residents and businesses to take control of their energy usage to earn cash back and reduce pollution. By lowering electricity usage at key times, we can collectively reduce the need for the utility to bring peaker plants. I am proud to partner with Sustainable Westchester to encourage residents to enroll in this program – similar to what your County Government is doing with our buildings.”

The event discussed how residents and businesses can participate in GridRewards™, a platform created by Logical Buildings and promoted through Sustainable Westchester. When high energy demand is forecasted, GridRewards™ provides users the opportunity to earn cash by reducing energy use at peak times. This can be achieved through simple actions including waiting to perform energy-intensive tasks such as running dishwashers, laundry machines and air-conditioning until the demand response event has passed.

Sustainable Westchester Interim Executive Director Jim Kuster said: “In 2020, Sustainable Westchester launched the first residential demand response program in the County, GridRewards, in partnership with Logical Buildings. This was made possible once ConEd had deployed smart meter infrastructure across its service area. In the subsequent three years, Sustainable Westchester has focused on raising awareness of the benets of the demand response program to residents and municipalities, and to grid infrastructure and the local environment. As a non-prot, Sustainable Westchester remains dedicated to maximizing the benets to our municipal members and their residents.”

In honor of Earth month, Mayors from Hastings to Sleepy Hollow have engaged in an annual competition by urging residents to sign up for GridRewards™ by April 28 to illustrate the importance of synchronicity when it comes to reducing energy consumption. Last summer, single family homeowners, apartment dwellers and commercial businesses utilized Logical Buildings and Sustainable Westchester’s GridRewards™ program.

Through their participation, these users created a combined load reduction of 7MW, up from an estimated 3.5- 4MW in 2021, enough electricity to instantaneously power 25,000 homes. The same program is now available for Westchester residents to participate in for the 2023 peak energy season.

In a similar program, the County partners with NuEnergen to administer a Demand Response program on many Westchester County buildings. On days of peak energy usage in the area, the County powers down certain properties in order to earn real dollars, offsetting both energy use and taxpayer funds.

About GridRewards™

 GridRewards™ was developed in 2019 by Logical Buildings, an AI technology solutions leader in sustainability, smart building and virtual power plant software and a solutions provider for the built world. The rm’s revolutionary technologies combat climate change by empowering residential, commercial, and industrial energy users to earn money, enhance building health and reduce carbon footprints through user-friendly, award-winning mobile apps. GridRewards™ was initially introduced as a digital program in 2019. It was launched as a free app in spring 2021 and is downloadable via the Apple Store and Google Play. Logical Buildings, which was founded in 2012 as a smart building technology software developer, IoT and DER systems integrator, and smart building services provider, currently operates in major national urban markets, including New York, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Camden, Chicago, and Miami, and more. To learn more, visit logicalbuildings.com and follow Logical Buildings on LinkedIn.

About Sustainable Westchester

 Sustainable Westchester is a nonprofit consortium of Westchester County local municipalities facilitating effective collaboration resulting in sustainability initiatives and cutting-edge innovation.  Our goal is to bring socially responsible, environmentally sound, and economically viable solutions that create resilient, healthy, vibrant, sustainable communities.

April 12, 2022 

App Helps Con Edison Customers in Westchester Manage Energy Use, Earn Cash and Reduce Utility Bills

With electricity costs on the rise and Westchester residents looking to lessen their carbon footprint, thousands of Con Edison customers are realizing the many benefits of using the free GridRewards app to manage their daily energy use, including cash rewards and lower monthly utility bills. County Executive George Latimer is teaming up with Sustainable Westchester, Logical Buildings & local municipal leaders to tout this new app which sends out easy-to-follow prompts that inform subscribers when to raise their air-conditioner settings by a few degrees, run appliances like washing machines and dishwashers and also sends out reminders to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms, among other tips – all while helping the user accrue cash rewards.

Latimer said: “A majority of GridRewards users have already received cash rewards for tracking and reducing energy use, while lowering utility bills and reducing electric load on the grid. Saving money, earning rewards and taking steps to lessen our impact on the environment is a true win-win-win.”

The GridRewards app sends out notifications that help users make energy management decisions in real-time. They are also prompted as they accrue and when the rewards can be collected through PayPal for instant cash or by a paper check mailed to the subscriber’s address.

The creator of the app and operator of the program, Logical Buildings, anticipates increased subscribership in upcoming months, largely in response to escalating energy rates. Sustainable Westchester, a nonprofit municipal membership organization that counts forty-five Westchester municipalities as members, began its collaboration with Logical Buildings in 2020.

Sustainable Westchester Executive Director Nina Orville said: “Sustainable Westchester chose to partner with Logical Buildings to promote GridRewards because we immediately saw how empowering it was for Westchester residents and small businesses to take more control of their energy usage and while doing so, to earn money and reduce strain on our electric grid. Reducing usage during times of peak demand also has an important environmental justice impact as those are the times that the utility puts the dirtiest power generating plants into service. Reducing environmental impact while providing other benefits to our communities is core to our mission and approach.”

In the nearly two years since the program was rolled out, the GridRewards “community” has prevented more than 200 tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere. This reduction of carbon is equivalent to taking more than 11,000 homes completely off the grid during high electric load events, 15,000 cars off the road for one day, or offsetting more than 500,000 miles driven. In New York City, alone, the reduced load this past summer drastically decreased the use of pollution-producing peaker plants.

County Director of Energy & Sustainability Peter McCartt said: “Westchester County Government enrolled in a few Demand Response Programs and are on pace to earn almost $1,000,000 over these four years while at the same time reducing the load on the grid during those extreme heat events of July and August. Now with this GridRewards program, residents and small businesses – while getting paid – can also help to reduce the chance for black-outs and to eliminate the need to build or operate expensive fossil fuel ‘Peaker Plants’ as we transition to renewable energy resources like solar, hydro, and the massive wind farms being built out in the Atlantic.”

The free GridRewards app can be downloaded to any smartphone from either the App Store or Google Play and does not require Wi-Fi, a computer, or technical expertise to set up and use.

Logical Buildings CEO Jeff Hendler said: “With the completion of this year’s first payment cycle in January, we were able to distribute cash rewards to thousands of GridRewards subscribers in Westchester and also shared access to information that enabled them to make smart decisions to reduce their monthly utility bills.”

About Westchester County

Westchester County, located in the heart of the historic Hudson Valley, covers 500 square miles and has a population of just over one million.  Originally home to Native Americans, who were members of the Lenape tribe, it is today a rich mix of many cultures and landscapes.  The County is a blend of bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque towns as well as open spaces and a network of beautiful parks. Westchester is made up of 6 cities, 19 towns and 20 villages.  Westchester County is known for top-notch public schools, and a high quality of life.  The County is also an intellectual capital, boasting a highly educated workforce, competitive colleges and universities, Fortune 500 companies, world changing non-profits, and cutting-edge research centers.  Westchester is led by County Executive George Latimer, who took office in January 2018 as the ninth County Executive. Using inclusion and openness as a foreground, Latimer is fighting to make Westchester a destination for all people to live, work and enjoy. Learn more about Westchester County by visiting www.westchestergov.com