National Grid (NYSE: NGG) has named Rudolph Wynter as its New York president as part of what the energy company calls its transition to a “deeply local” model for its U.S. business. 

The announcement includes the expansion of New England and New York leadership roles and a new chief customer officer, National Grid U.S. President Badar Khan said on Dec. 3.

National Grid will align all operations to New York and New England (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) presidents who will report to the U.S. president, effective April 2021. 

“The changes we’re making today deepen our ties to the community and align the full weight of our expertise and operations with each region,” Khan contended in a statement. “We’ll be able to move faster for our customers in the coming years — years that are critical in creating the clean energy future we need to combat climate change without leaving anyone behind.”

About Wynter

Wynter currently serves as National Grid’s COO for wholesale networks and capital delivery.

He will split his time between offices in Albany and New York City, according to Virginia Limmiatis, who handles U.S. strategic communications for National Grid. Wynter will oversee 9,600 employees, including 5,000 in upstate New York, Limmiatis told CNYBJ in an email.

Wynter will also look after 83 offices and operation centers across upstate and downstate New York that serve 4.1 million gas and electricity customers. That figure includes 1.6 million electricity customers and 630,000 natural-gas customers in the upstate New York area.

Wynter has worked at National Grid for more than 25 years, most recently overseeing one of the largest electric transmission networks in the Northeast, generation plants, and the development and construction of “complex” capital projects across the region. In addition, Wynter has managed the company’s portfolio of energy-storage assets.

An external search for the New England president is underway and a leader will be announced “at a later date.” John Bruckner — who currently serves as New York president — will take on a new role as COO of electric for New York, National Grid said.

Shift in business model

CNYBJ also inquired as to what National Grid means by a “deeply local” business model. 

As of April 1, 2021, “we are moving from being centrally managed to being aligned regionally under New York and New England presidents. This change will deepen our ties to the community and align the full weight of our expertise and operations within each region,” said Limmiatis.

She went on to explain that in New York, National Grid has, for a number of years, provided natural gas and electricity service in upstate New York and natural-gas service in downstate New York. 

“We are focused on building a smarter energy grid, enhancing storm resiliency, promoting economic growth and preparing for the next generation of clean energy. And, we’re doing all of this while further improving safety, reliability, affordability and customer service. Our electricity and gas systems power economic segments including manufacturing, health care, banking, nanotechnology, agribusiness, education, defense, medical research and development, transportation, entertainment and tourism, service industries, and much more,” Limmiatis said.

National Grid’s New York business represents 60 percent of the company’s U.S. business.       

SYRACUSE — New “energy-efficient,” LED (light emitting diode) streetlights installed throughout the city of Syracuse will save the city $3.3 million annually. 

They’ll also reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by nearly 8,500 tons a year — “the equivalent of taking more than 1,660 cars off the road.” That’s according to the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo whose Smart Street Lighting NY program was the impetus for the project.

Syracuse — through a partnership with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) — replaced all of its streetlights with the “most comprehensive set of innovative Smart City technologies in the state,” Cuomo’s office said in a news release. 

The more than $16 million initiative, implemented by NYPA, includes the replacement of about 17,500 streetlights throughout the city with “Smart, LED fixtures, improving lighting quality and neighborhood safety while saving energy and maintenance costs.” The city’s streetlights are now outfitted with Smart controls that provide programmed dimming ability, energy metering, fault monitoring, and additional tools for emergency services through on-demand lighting levels, per the authority.

Funding and features

NYPA provided Syracuse with a $500,000 Smart Cities grant for the project. The city used the additional funding to support special features on the streetlights that “demonstrate the latest in Smart City technologies,” focused on digital connectivity, environmental monitoring, and public safety. 

The state expects those features will be “fully implemented” in early 2021.

With digital connectivity, Syracuse is planning to deploy exterior Wi-Fi at community centers and public spaces, including in neighborhoods that are in need of expanded digital-network services. 

The environmental-monitoring feature means ice and snow-detection systems will assist city officials in pinpointing streets covered in ice or snow that require attention to “prevent accidents and improve safety.” The sensors provide data that can tell the city where salt trucks and plows are most needed instead of directing trucks to drive pre-determined routes. Crews will also install flood reporting and monitoring systems, Cuomo’s office said.

With the public safety and property protection feature, crews will install illegal dumping and vandalism-detection sensors at “strategic” locations to help mitigate these disturbances. The City of Syracuse will also deploy vacant-house monitoring. The system can monitor for potential fires, detect motion, and provide temperature and humidity readings of vacant homes. 

Crews will also install trash-bin sensors at various locations throughout the city that will detect when a trash bin is full and alert local officials for pickup.

New York has now replaced more than 100,000 of its streetlights with LED fixtures, a step toward Cuomo’s goal to replace at least 500,000 streetlights with LED technology by 2025 under Smart Street Lighting NY.        

ALBANY — New York State agencies on Dec. 1 adopted new regulations to “strengthen” the regional greenhouse gas initiative (RGGI).

The regulations “advance” New York’s portion of the 30 percent regional cap reduction from 2021 to 2030, “ensuring that regional emissions are 65 percent below the starting cap level by 2030 and will align New York’s cap with the other participating RGGI states,” the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. 

Cuomo’s office refers to RGGI as “the nation’s first regional program to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector.” 

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) adopted the regulations. 

These emissions reductions support Cuomo’s requirements under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) to slash greenhouse-gas emissions by 85 percent by 2050. 

With this update, the regional cap in 2030 will be 65 percent below the 2009 starting level. 

Revisions to NYSERDA’s regulations will also ensure that the investment of proceeds from allowance auctions provide equitable benefits to disadvantaged communities, in accordance with the CLCPA, the state says.

Another “key change” to the RGGI program is the creation of the emissions containment reserve (or ECR). This is a new feature designed to ensure additional carbon-dioxide emissions reductions by auctioning fewer allowances in the event the cost of such reductions is less than anticipated. The regulations also simplify the program and ensure that reductions from power plants continue by removing all offset categories except for emissions from livestock operations, per the state. 

Environmental-group reaction

Environmental Advocates NY, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, and other groups have been pushing for these pollution-reduction measures and calling on NYSERDA, the agency that controls climate spending, to ensure the appropriate amount of funds are spent in line with CLCPA mandates, per a Dec. 1 statement from Environmental Advocates NY. 

The Dec. 1 action “demonstrates the state’s commitment” to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions with equity and justice as required by the state’s climate law — the CLCPA. 

Conor Bambrick, director of climate policy at Environmental Advocates NY, and Annel Hernandez, associate director at New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, said the following in a statement reacting to the state’s announcement. 

“New York State has passed the first test laid out by our climate law. Communities of color that are bearing the brunt of pollution will find some welcome relief under these new rules. Investing 35 percent in disadvantaged communities on the front lines of climate change is a good first step that creates the potential to generate real, everlasting change, good green jobs, and a healthier future for millions.”  

SALINA — The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and the Town of Salina announced on Dec. 7 the start of an energy-efficient LED streetlight installation throughout the town as part of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Smart Street Lighting NY program. 

The project will save the town about $400,000 in annual utility costs and significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, NYPA contended in a news release. Smart Street Lighting NY is a statewide program that calls for at least 500,000 streetlights across New York to be replaced with LED technology by 2025.

The $2.5 million upgrade, financed and implemented by NYPA, includes the replacement of nearly 2,800 streetlights throughout Salina with energy-saving LED fixtures, improving lighting quality and neighborhood safety, while reducing energy and maintenance costs, the release stated. The installation is expected to begin in January and be completed in the spring.

NYPA is also providing $300,000 through a Smart Cities grant for the project, which include asset-management nodes and Smart Street Lighting controls that allow for the automatic reporting of outages, minimizing maintenance costs. In addition, the light fixtures now have the capability to be dimmed and remotely controlled. NYPA and Salina are in the process of designing additional Smart Street Lighting features to be implemented following completion of the LED-fixture upgrades.

 “While saving taxpayer dollars and reducing energy consumption, this project will ensure Salina stays on the cutting edge of technology. Purchasing the street lighting will allow the town to deploy Smart Lighting Controls and Smart Cities technology to help keep our community safe and our services efficient. The Street Lighting project is also keeping the town on track to reach its goal for being a Clean Energy Community,” Town of Salina Supervisor Colleen Gunnip said.

NYPA is working with cities, towns, villages, and counties throughout New York to fully manage and implement a customer’s transition to LED streetlight technology. The authority provides upfront financing for the project, with payments to NYPA made in the years following from the cost-savings created by the reduced energy use of the LED streetlights, which are 50 to 65 percent more efficient than alternative street lighting options.

Cuomo in November announced the completed installation of energy-efficient LED streetlights throughout the City of Syracuse as part of the Smart Street Lighting NY program. Syracuse, through a partnership with NYPA, replaced all of its streetlights with the Smart City technologies, saving the city $3.3 million annually and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by nearly 8,500 tons a year.