Elinor Haider, Vice President of Market Development for Veolia Energy North America, testified before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power today, highlighting the grid-reliability benefits of distributed generation such as CHP and WHP. These benefits were on display when Superstorm Sandy hit New York City in 2012. While the NYU Langone Medical Center lost power, the NYU main campus was able to keep the lights on due to its 13MW Veolia CHP system, allowing the campus to serve as a place of refuge during the storm. Recognizing these benefits, Langone Medical Center has since hired Veolia to install a CHP system at that site. Combined, 27 CHP sites provided nearly 270 MW of uninterrupted electric capacity to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, universities, assisted living facilities, and multi-family residences, during Sandy. Situations like this highlight the need for Congress to pass legislation that requires critical infrastructure facilities to formally consider the grid reliability benefits of CHP systems. The Subcommittee is considering the House Discussion Draft on comprehensive legislation addressing America’s energy infrastructure. You can read Elinor’s opening statement here and more detailed written testimony here. View her complete testimony here.
Veolia Executive Testifies to Reliability Benefits of CHP During Superstorm Sandy
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