On April 7, 2021, the City of Rye, and the Towns of Rye and Rye Brook, launched an Earth Month Challenge & Community Energy Campaign to promote GridRewards, a demand response app. This app prompts you to take energy saving actions during peak demand events. Con Edison will pay you to reduce electricity at peak demand times so they can avoid running old, inefficient power plants. You get paid to help the environment.

GridRewards is an app that empowers eligible energy users in Westchester County to receive cash rewards from participating in Con Edison’s demand response programs, while also educating participants on how to reduce their monthly energy bill and make an overall positive environmental impact by reducing their energy usage and carbon footprint. Signing up involves downloading the GridRewards app at SustainableWestchester.org/GridRewards (available to download through Google Play or the App Store).

For step-by-step instructions on how to enroll, visit GridRewards.

GridRewards provides a powerful incentive for energy saving actions by sharing demand response revenues with the energy users who performed them. When a household’s energy saving action earns revenue, it is logged through SmartKit AI and paid out in the form of a check to the participant. Cash is distributed to participants before the end of the calendar year. While each participant is encouraged to reduce as much energy as possible during demand response events, there are no penalties for opting out of an event.

The ubiquity of smart thermostats makes performance easier than ever – raising cooling setpoints by four degrees for a handful of 1-6 hour periods in the summer can earn participants significant money — a payout of up to 15% of the total annual Con Edison electricity bill. (Note: You do not need a smart thermostat to participate in the GridRewards.)

Beyond raising temperatures, additional activities could include dimming lights, avoiding electric hot water heating and shifting dishwashing and laundry activities to a later time of the day. With zero investment in hardware or equipment of any sort, customers can easily take these actions and watch their energy usage drop on the app, translating these behaviors into savings and payouts with real-time transparency.

About Sustainable Westchester

Sustainable Westchester is a nonprofit consortium of Westchester County local municipalities facilitating effective collaboration resulting in sustainability initiatives and cutting-edge innovation. Their goal is to bring socially responsible, environmentally sound, and economically viable solutions that create resilient, healthy, vibrant, sustainable communities. For more information, visit www.SustainableWestchester.org.