ITHACA — New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) is working with a Cornell University professor on a program to coordinate electric-vehicle power use by encouraging owners to delay charging times in exchange for lower prices.

The project, OptimizEV, will involve 35 participants in Tompkins County for a year to better understand consumer charging preferences, and how these might align with the overall power grid, per a Cornell University news release.

NYSEG is working with Eilyan Bitar, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, on the project. 

Owners of electric vehicles tend to come home in the evenings and plug in their cars, straining the grid because they’re demanding a lot of power at peak times, Cornell said. Even with plans offering off-peak discounts, most electric car owners still charge their cars at the same time to take advantage of lower prices, which also strains the grid, though at different hours.

“When most people plug their vehicles in, they don’t always need them to be charged immediately, and even though they won’t need them until the following morning, they’re plugged in for the rest of the night,” said Bitar, who is also a fellow with the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

How it works

Participants in the pilot will use smart chargers that can communicate to NYSEG their energy usage minute by minute. Electric-vehicle owners will indicate how long they plan to leave their cars plugged in, choosing from a menu of options that offers larger discounts the longer they’re willing to delay.

Once customers make their selections, an optimization algorithm will consider their deadlines, their energy usage, and the wider demand on the power grid in order to determine the optimal charging pattern for every vehicle being managed.

“That will allow us to both monitor electric-vehicle charging and to transmit control signals that let us adjust the power they’re drawing in real time,” Bitar said. “We’ll reshape the electric vehicle power load patterns to minimize strain on the grid, while still respecting customers’ charging preferences and personal deadlines.”

Bitar developed the optimization algorithm along with Polina Alexeenko, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, Cornell said.

Smart chargers have been installed in the homes of the 35 participants, and preliminary monitoring will continue through the end of the year. The pilot is expected to be completed in late 2020.

Power demand for electric vehicles is “growing” as more consumers use level- two chargers, which are faster and more powerful than level-one chargers, but can double a household’s peak power demand. The popularity of these chargers, combined with the increased adoption of electric cars, could jeopardize the utility’s ability to deliver power cheaply and reliably.

“Our grid infrastructure has limited capacity,” Bitar said. “Transformers can only accommodate so much demand at any given moment. Exceeding a transformer’s capacity to serve demand can severely reduce its lifetime, requiring more frequent replacements — which is not cheap.”

OptimizEV is part of NYSEG’s Energy Smart Community Initiative in Tompkins County, and was developed in partnership with Kitu Systems of San Diego, California; Taitem Engineering in Ithaca; and supported in part by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).      

FORT DRUM — The Black River facility of ReEnergy Holdings continues providing biomass energy for Fort Drum.

The U.S. Army’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) on Nov. 21 announced that it would no longer seek to renegotiate its contract with ReEnergy, the office of U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R–NY 21) said in a news release.

The Army had sought to change its 20-year agreement that allows ReEnergy to provide Fort Drum with biomass energy, the office of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) said in a Nov. 26 statement reacting to the Army’s decision. 

DLA had awarded a 20-year contract to Fort Drum in 2014.

Schumer said he helped facilitate the contract. However, news reports indicated that the Army “had proposed ending or significantly amending the contract,” despite ReEnergy meeting all performance requirements and investing $50 million into the facility. 

ReEnergy is a 60-megawatt facility that generates 422,000 megawatt hours per year and is located on Fort Drum, providing the installation with “100 percent energy independence,” per Stefanik’s office. 

Larry Richardson, CEO of ReEnergy Black River, also reacted in a statement.

“We are pleased that the Defense Logistics Agency has decided not to renegotiate the terms of ReEnergy’s agreement to supply secure, resilient, renewable energy to Fort Drum. We are proud to provide secure and resilient electricity to the post and support the critically important mission of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division,” Richardson said. “We deeply appreciate the support we have received over the years from Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Representative Elise Stefanik in our work with the Department of the Army and Fort Drum. The ReEnergy Black River biomass power facility supports more than 300 direct and indirect jobs and serves as an important market for regional forest and mill residue. We are gratified to play a supporting role in the regional forest products industry and we look forward to our continued partnership with Fort Drum and the Defense Logistics Agency.”

Schumer explained that ending or amending the current deal would not only have “jeopardized hundreds of good-paying jobs” in upstate New York, but it would have undermined Fort Drum’s “energy resilience when facing potential threats to the energy grid.” 

Schumer added that such an action would have a negative impact on all future agreements because bidders will price into contracts the risk that the Army may change its mind mid-contract. 

In May of this year, Schumer met with the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, and the Chief of Staff of the Army, General James McConville, and urged both senior leaders to honor ReEnergy’s contract with Fort Drum, the Democrat’s office noted.

“I’m so pleased to hear that the Army will be honoring its contract with ReEnergy, and that Fort Drum will maintain its status as the only 100 percent energy-independent, self-sustaining and off-the-grid military installation in the country. Not only does this contract support good-paying jobs in the North County, but it also ensures that in the event of an attack on our power grid, Fort Drum could continue to meet readiness requirements without disruptions,” Schumer said.

Stefanik added, “DOD’s use of alternative energy strengthens their ability to conduct combat operations, humanitarian response and protects our national security.”