Priority areas include:

• Working closely with the consulting engineering firms to promote innovative
  and energy-efficient technologies in New York
• Helping municipalities address regulatory pressures to decrease nutrients
  in wastewater
• Developing innovative ways to disinfect water
• Optimizing performance to improve efficiency and increase wastewater
  treatment capacity

NYSERDA Municipal Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Program Mission

With rising infrastructure demands and decreasing resources, municipalities are looking for cost-saving measures, particularly with respect to operating costs. Many of the water and wastewater treatment plants in New York State may be experiencing unnecessarily high operating costs due to overloading, failing equipment, lack of process-control instrumentation, and operating problems. These conditions often result in excessive energy use.

Programs

• Assistance to Identify and Install Energy-Efficiency Opportunities
  
  To help solve these problems,NYSERDA offers programs designed to assist the municipality in making sound energy decisions about processes and equipment cost-sharing opportunities. Choices can include energy studies, capital incentives for the installation of energy-efficient equipment and processes, and development and demonstration programs for innovative technologies. These opportunities are designed to assist the municipality in making sound energy decisions about processes and equipment, thereby reducing their utility bills. NYSERDA offers financial assistance to municipalities to identify opportunities and install new equipment for energy-efficiency upgrades in their water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS)

On September 24, 2004, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) adopted a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) with the goal of increasing the proportion of renewable electricity used by New York consumers from the 2004 baseline of 19.3% to at least 25% by 2013. The PSC ordered the major investor-owned utilities in New York State to collect revenues from ratepayers for the purpose of achieving the RPS target, with NYSERDA, the designated administrator of the RPS Program.

The RPS includes two components: a Main Tier and a Customer-Sited Tier. The Main Tier consists primarily of medium- to large-scale electric generation facilities that sell their electricity into the wholesale power market administered by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). The Customer-Sited Tier consists of "behind-the-meter" facilities that are not cost-competitive with existing large-scale generation, but have value in their potential to be located near urban load centers where power prices are higher and where localized environmental benefits and avoided distribution system upgrades would be valued highly. The Customer-Sited Tier could include residences and commercial or industrial facilities.

Focus on Municipal Water and Wastewater Facility Energy Efficiency

The current confluence of higher energy prices, more stringent environmental regulations, and aging infrastructure are creating a “perfect storm” for improving energy efficiency in the water and wastewater sector. Great gains can be achieved by raising municipal awareness of NYSERDA programs, increasing the sector’s interest in energy-efficient processes and products and implementing a collaborative approach to improve the delivery of technical assistance as the sector moves toward improved energy efficiency across New York State.

In July 2007, NYSERDA contracted with Red Oak Consulting, a division of Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., to develop and implement the Focus on Municipal Water and Wastewater Facility Energy Efficiency program. This program will provide water and wastewater operators and elected officials with the knowledge and resources necessary to successfully identify and implement energy efficiency improvement projects. Over the next year, various outreach materials will be developed including:

• "Best Practices Fact Sheets” which will describe energy-efficiency projects using a case study format
• a “Best Practices Handbook” for use at upcoming training events and for general distribution
• “Energy Checklists” for identification of simple opportunities for energy reduction measures and more
  

To equip operators with the knowledge needed to identify and implement energy efficiency projects, efforts are underway to develop new operator training courses. In addition, an Energy Specialty Conference will be held in the spring of 2008, with supplemental presentations given at various locations throughout the State during the remainder of the year. In August 2007, a presentation on energy efficiency was given at the Hudson Valley Water Works conference in Harriman, NY. New presentation venues will be confirmed and posted on this website.

New Web pages, dedicated to the Focus on Municipal Water and Wastewater Facility Energy Efficiency program, will be launched in the coming months to provide operators and municipal officials with instant access to information about upcoming events, NYSERDA funding opportunities, recent publications, and various materials developed to support the objectives of this program. Ultimately, this program will assist municipal water and wastewater utilities across the State by providing useful resources and valuable technical advice about the benefits of, and implementation processes behind, energy efficiency improvement projects. Contact Amy Santos at santosa@pirnie.com for more information.

Other Projects

Benchmarking
Benchmarking provides Water/Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) with a baseline of energy performance. This allows the plants to track their own performance over time (internal benchmarking) or to compare performance to other similar facilities (external benchmarking). To develop a benchmark, energy measurements as well as flow, loading, and other data specific to WWTPs are collected to provide the basis for the comparison. Benchmarking can help identify facilities or processes that need improvement within a facility and that could offer cost savings and reduced energy consumption. Benchmarking can also help verify the savings associated with equipment or process changes within a facility.

Assessments
NYSERDA offers programs to help WWTPs increase energy and process efficiency, save money and often increase capacity or treatment levels. Studies can evaluate equipment, controls, operations, processes, biogas production, and biogas use through co-generation or direct heating. Customized energy evaluations are cost-shared on a 50:50 basis, with NYSERDA providing up to $50,000 per project. The FlexTech Program uses NYSERDA’s pre-qualified consultants to provide customized energy evaluations. The Technical Assistance Program allows customers to select their own contractor to undertake the study.

Submetering
Submetering within a WWTP involves installing power-metering equipment to determine the energy consumption of the various processes within the facility. Measurements can be collected for each unit process and/or for the whole plant. Submetered data can be used to develop a benchmark for the facility. The collected data from the meters is compared with historical data of the same processes to examine and evaluate performance and energy use at the facility. Better understanding and more precise measurements of energy use often provide information leading to energy cost savings and energy-efficiency measures within the plant. In October of 2006, NYSERDA completed energy evaluations of 11 WWTPs in New York State through the Submetering Program. Click here to read the summary report.

Final Reports and Case Studies for Completed Projects

Other NYSERDA Municipal Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Program Assistance
(97kb .pdf)

Other financing and technical services available in New York State for water and wastewater treatment facilities: www.nysefc.org

List of current municipalities involved in NYSERDA's water and wastewater demonstration and research projects

Other NYSERDA Municipal Programs

Links to related Web sites

• Energy Specialty Conference November 2006
• Clear Solutions September 2006
  
• Global Energy Partners' Water and Wastewater Program Technical Information
  • Solids Handling for Water & Wastewater Treatment
  • Clear Solutions for Water and Energy
    
• IUVA Northeast Ultraviolet Disinfection Conference 2006
• NYSERDA Calls on WWTP and WTP Facilities in 2005 to Help Shape the Future of New Energy Program Funding!

For more information on the Water and Wastewater Treatment Program, contact:
Kathleen O'Connor (Technology Development & Demonstration) at 1-866-NYSERDA, or 518-862-1090, ext. 3422
or Greg Lampman (Energy Efficiency Implementation) at 1-866-NYSERDA, or 518-862-1090, ext. 3372

17 Columbia Circle, Albany, NY 12203-6399    Toll-Free: 1-866-NYSERDA or Local: 518-862-1090    Fax: 518-862-1091
New York City and Buffalo Regional Offices

© 2004 New York State Energy Research and Development Authority