Politics & Government
Pleasantville: Sign Up For Energy Reduction Rewards
The Climate Smart Task Force is working on an app that pays if you reduce energy consumption at peak times that strain the grid.
The village’s Climate Smart Task Force is collaborating with Sustainable Westchester on a program that allows you, via an app on your phone, to save energy at high-demand times during the summer. In return for helping ConEd reduce the demand for energy during these “peak” events, you earn a cash reward. Your participation is completely voluntary, and ConEd does not have control of any devices in your home.
The app is called GridRewards and it takes about 10 minutes to sign up. It’s safe and secure and very easy to use.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The app links to your Con Ed account and alerts you a few times in the summer when there is an unusually high demand for energy and asks you to take a few simple steps, such as turning up the temperature on the AC for a couple of hours or doing your laundry later in the day. It also shows you lots of great info about your energy usage and ways to save money.
Why is this an important thing to participate in? When your utility company needs to meet your region’s peak electricity demand, they fire up older, less-efficient power plants that cost more money to maintain and release more carbon into the air per unit of electricity. They’re known as “peaker plants.” By helping to ease the demand on electricity, you help to stave off the need to resort to these “peaker plants.” Your effort will thus lower the carbon emissions of your region as well as saving electricity.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
If you participate in a few of these “peak” events, you will then get a check from ConEd at the end of the year as a reward. The average household earns $100.
One more thing - if we get enough people to sign up, we may be eligible for a $5,000 grant from New York State that the Climate Smart Task Force can put to green energy initiatives in Pleasantville.
To learn more and for an easy tutorial, go to
This press release was produced by the Village of Pleasantville. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
