Central Hudson

Introduction to Central Hudson

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation (Central Hudson) is a regulated transmission and distribution (T&D) utility serving electric and natural gas customers in New York State’s Mid-Hudson River Valley. In 2000, CH Energy Group, Inc. was formed as a holding company/parent organization of Central Hudson and a family of subsidiaries known as Central Hudson Enterprises Corporation. In 2013, CH Energy Group and Central Hudson joined Fortis Inc.’s federation of utility companies.

Central Hudson serves approximately 309,000 electric customers and 84,000 natural gas customers.

System Overview

Central Hudson’s service territory extends from the suburbs of metropolitan New York City north to the Capital District at Albany, covering more than 2,600 square miles. Central Hudson’s customer base is mostly residential.

Central Hudson is experiencing persistent declines in system-wide energy use, with relatively few areas of the system experiencing growth. While peak demand excluding DER is expected to stay constant, peak demand including DER will continue to decrease. Central Hudson is able to address system-wide peak with existing programs and pocketed NWA opportunities.

Central Hudson performed in 2016 an analysis of the benefits and costs of implementing AMI and determined that the costs significantly outweighed the benefits. Central Hudson is therefore not pursuing territory-wide AMI deployment but is instead pursuing an AMI Pilot to target specific circuits. Central Hudson plans to deploy smart meters to 4,766 electric, 1,644 gas, and 936 Life Support Equipment customers.

[1] EIA. Annual Electric Power Industry Report, Form EIA-861. 2019.

Approach to the Climate Act

Central Hudson’s vision is aligned with Climate Act targets and will put significant effort into progressing the DSP. Central Hudson is continuing its efforts towards implementing large-scale transformational projects, such as distribution management systems and customer information systems.

Notable initiatives include:

• Heat pump deployment through statewide Clean Heat Program
• Innovative storage projects, including SUNY New Paltz PV + Battery Storage Research Project, Quanta BESS study, and Four Corners Microgrid
• Innovative EV projects, including Make-Ready Program, residential charging behavior research effort, EV rate
• Clean Energy Marketplace to allow customers to compare offerings by participating renewable energy companies located in the region

Non-Wires Alternative Projects

Central Hudson has made significant progress in increasing NWA opportunities and is continuing to integrate DER into the planning process.

For descriptions and the status of current and upcoming NWA projects, visit the REV Connect Non-Wires Alternatives web page or Central Hudson Non-Wires Solutions web page.

Available System Data and Planning

For currently accessible system data, see Joint Utilities of NY Utility-Specific System Data web page. For system planning, see Joint Utilities of NY Utility-Specific Hosting Capacity web page and Central Hudson Solar Energy & Distributed Generation web page.

REV Demos

For descriptions and progress of current and past REV Demos, visit the NY DPS REV Demonstration Projects web page.

Relevant Filings

To access each filing, visit the NYS Department of Public Service web page and view filed documents in the Case Number provided.

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