Northern Illinois Energy Project

Northern Illinois Energy Project,
Citizens Utility Board and Edison Mission Group Announce New "Green Building" Pilot Program to Save Energy, Reduce Emissions

"Demand Response" Technology to be installed in four high-rise residential buildings June 1

CHICAGO, May 12, 2009 — The Northern Illinois Energy Project, Citizens Utility Board (CUB) and Edison Mission Group, parent company of Chicago-based Midwest Generation, today announced a new “green building” pilot project aimed at saving energy costs and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The parties were joined in making the announcement by Chicago's Commissioner of the Environment Suzanne Malec-McKenna and 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly.

Patrick O'Connor
Jasculca/Terman & Associates
312.573.5510 (o)
512.659.0858 (c)

Susan Olavarria
Edison Mission Group
312.583.6125 (o)
312.952.2817 (c)

Complete video of the news conference available.

Download Adobe Acrobat version of news release.

The pilot program, which begins June 1, will equip four Chicago residential high-rise buildings with technology to control air conditioning usage during peak electricity demand. The equipment will be installed and maintained by Corporate Systems Engineering of Indianapolis, which has installed more than one million load management devices in the United States.

The initiative supports the City of Chicago’s Climate Action Plan by helping to curb electricity use during peak demand periods on the hottest days of summer, thereby saving energy, cutting costs and helping reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The technology is commonly referred to as “Demand Response.”

"Our goal is to make Chicago the greenest major city in the nation, and to do so we have to continually rethink our approach to energy consumption," said Commissioner Malec-McKenna. "This initiative represents the kind of innovative thinking we need to help stabilize our energy grid, maximize our energy resources and reduce emissions. The City applauds this unique partnership, which supports our Climate Action Plan. We encourage residential buildings throughout the city to join the program once it has moved beyond the pilot phase,” Malec- McKenna said.

The project was announced at an event in one of the four buildings participating in the pilot project, the Park Millennium Condominium Residences in downtown Chicago. Leaders from the business, civic, labor and environmental communities gathered at the site to hear about the new program.

"I am thrilled to be partnering with the Citizens Utility Board and Edison Mission to support the Demand Response pilot program because it has tremendous potential to improve the energy efficiency of downtown residential buildings and reduce their carbon footprint," said Alderman Reilly. "I am proud of the fact that three of the four buildings participating in this initial Pilot Program are located in the 42nd Ward – it is a testament to downtown residents' commitment to promoting a more sustainable urban environment and achieving the goals set forth in Chicago's Climate Action Plan."

The partnership established for this initiative is a unique public/private collaboration between a major energy provider and the Northern Illinois Energy Project, a not-for-profit organization established by the Citizens Utility Board, City of Chicago Department of the Environment, and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to promote energy efficiency in the ComEd service territory.

Edison Mission Group CEO Ron Litzinger said the project is a key component of his company's efforts to prepare for federal climate change legislation and to help address policymakers' and society's goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

"As the operator of a large fleet of coal-fired generating stations, we are challenged to be innovative to address greenhouse gas emissions," said Litzinger. "While we believe coal will play a critical role in our nation's future energy supply, we also recognize the need to accelerate development of alternative ways to address demand for electricity. We already are a major developer of renewable energy projects, but this project provides an opportunity for us to explore a new role."

"We need to greatly expand demand-response programs to keep power prices in check and to help offset the need to build new power plants, said David Kolata, President of the Northern Illinois Energy Project and Executive Director of the Citizens Utility Board. "We view this program as part of an emerging smart-grid strategy that gives consumers more control over their energy usage and provides new opportunities to save money. We’re excited to be working with our partners to make Illinois the national leader in innovative demand-side solutions to our energy challenges.”

"Like any business, we look forward to trying innovative ways to cut our energy costs," said Tom Taylor, vice president, Draper and Kramer. "We look forward to being part of this pilot project and see it as an important step in optimizing our energy efficiency for the long run." In addition to the Park Millennium Condominium Residences, two of the three other buildings participating in the pilot project are also located in Alderman Reilly's ward – 535 N. Michigan Ave Condo and the condominiums located at 600 N. Lake Shore Dr. The fourth building participating in the program is the Domain at 900 N. Kingsbury, in the 27th ward.

How the technology works
Edison Mission Group and Corporate Systems Engineering are working with building managers to install innovative cellular-based Demand Response technology, which allows for independent metering and verification of reduced energy use. Traditional demand response systems use oneway technology limiting the ability to confirm load reduction.

Like traditional demand response, when energy use is at its peak, air conditioning systems will reduce power consumption for predetermined short periods of time. This will reduce the amount of energy used in the building during the hottest hours of the day, while resulting in negligible impact in building climate. The energy management systems in each of the pilot buildings will be programmed with a demand response event protocol to be triggered by the Corporate Systems Engineering technology. Unlike traditional one-way control systems, the two-way system will allow participation in wholesale energy markets in addition to capacity markets.

Electricity saved during a demand response event is available to other areas of need within the energy grid. This contributes to a more dependable grid during peak-usage hours and reduces the need for new peaking electricity generation capacity. Edison Mission Group will provide building operators with an annual payment based on the amount of electricity reduced at peak times at each building.

Edison Mission Group
EMG is the parent company of Chicago-based Midwest Generation, which operates six coal-fired power plants in Illinois that produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 8 million homes. EMG also is the seventh largest owner of wind energy projects in the U.S., with 25 projects in nine states, and has completed pre-construction work on a major wind farm to be located in Lee and Bureau counties in north central Illinois.

Corporate Systems Engineering
CSE is the largest provider of load control switches in the U.S. and is actively engaged in the development of emerging AMI technology. CSE has been a pioneer of energy management solutions for electric utilities since 1978.

The Northern Illinois Energy Project
The Northern Illinois Energy Project (NIEP) is a partnership of the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), an Illinois non-profit utility consumer advocacy group, the City of Chicago, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. NIEP was created to develop and administer innovative programs to promote energy conservation and reduce electricity costs for residential customers of ComEd.

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