Con Edison blackouts in July left more than 100,000 residents of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens without power, and the utility warned that more outages could be coming and people shouldn’t be shocked when they occur. The end of summer heat does not end the concern. Severe storms take place year-round, and even with much of New York City’s powerlines underground, the power feeding the city is largely distributed above ground. With the scheduled closing of the Indian Point nuclear reactor by 2021, New York City’s power will be even more vulnerable, as it travels longer distances above ground.
Property owners must, therefore, anticipate and prepare for blackouts, which can no longer be considered unexpected occurrences. Fortunately, there are numerous steps that can be taken.
Some New York City properties are off the grid entirely. Penn South, the Mitchell-Lama affordable housing complex just five blocks south of the lower end of the Manhattan blackout, had no reason to be concerned by that event. Similarly, Rochdale Village, the Mitchell-Lama complex in Greater Jamaica, had no reason to worry about the blackout in Queens. Those properties – both clients of Goldman Copeland – have their own cogeneration power plants, which produce all of the electrical power, heating, air-conditioning, and domestic hot water for their entire residential developments and other amenities with no connection to an outside utility company.
Numerous commercial office buildings have cogeneration plants as well. Goldman Copeland has designed microturbine cogeneration systems for 1350 Sixth Avenue, 666 Fifth Avenue, and 717 Fifth Avenue (one of the earliest), among others. We have overseen the implementation of still more.
Cogeneration involves the production of heat and energy from a single source. It can be powered by microturbines, gas turbines, steam turbines, reciprocating engines, and absorption chillers.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel than traditional power generation, because otherwise-wasted heat from electricity generation is put to productive use. It has increased advantage at a time when reducing greenhouse gas emissions is prioritized.
For property owners who do not want to go that route, backup generators are a vital resource. Expanding their use beyond that already mandated by code should be actively evaluated.
Energy-saving measures – such as installation of variable speed drives, peak load reduction measures via stored battery systems or via BMS, recommissioning, etc. – should all be investigated and applied according to each building’s needs. Reducing a building’s peak kilowatt demand will not only be a direct cost saving but will also reduce stress on the electrical infrastructure system. Funding for such studies may be available from NYSERDA.
The New York City building code currently requires backup generators in newer buildings to provide auxiliary power for elevators, stairwell lighting (for which batteries are also acceptable), and fire alarm systems. Discussions have been taking place in City Hall about the possibility of making those requirements applicable to older high-rise buildings (above 75 feet in height), just as sprinkler systems were recently mandated retroactively for all office buildings that are 100 feet tall or more.
Other services that might wisely be covered by backup generators include the following: security desks, building office power, domestic water pumps, sewage ejector pumps, and freeze protection loads, among others.
To ensure generator operation in the event of a utility power failure, quarterly generator inspections by a manufacturer’s representative – of batteries, filters, etc. – should be conducted, along with monthly testing and annual load bank testing. All automatic transfer switches that enable power to be transferred to the generator should be serviced and tested annually. Infra-red scanning of the electrical distribution is also recommended annually to locate and repair deficient items as well as to prevent local loss of power.
Con Edison has issued a warning about future blackouts, so no one can say that they didn’t know. Preparedness must now be a higher priority than ever. Those who fail to take the necessary steps will truly be powerless – in the face of events that they could have anticipated.
John McBride is a Principal at Goldman Copeland.
