CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The New York State Public Service Commission today agreed to set aside up to $27 million as an incentive for electric utilities to develop programs aimed at energy efficiency.

The goal of the program is to reduce consumption by up to 693,591 megawatt hours annually. That represents a portion of the PSC's share of the statewide goal to reduce consumption 15 percent by 2015.

Under the program, National Grid would receive to up to $8.67 million for a consumption reduction of 223,270 megawatt hours annually and NYSEG would be eligible for up to $3.8 million for reducing consumption by 97,769 megawatt hours annually.

The incentives would only be paid if a utility meets its goal.

"The Commission has established energy efficiency as a high priority, due to the benefits that it provides related to customer bills, system reliability, environmental impacts, energy security, and economic development. For that reason, incentives are warranted if they increase the likelihood of achieving our efficiency goals in a cost-effective manner," PSC Chairman Garry Brown said in a news release.