The right pledge.
Reservation payments scale with performance. Pledge too much and the payment shrinks; pledge too little and money is left on the table. We set it from test data and adjust it every month.
NavigateDR · Demand response for Con Edison customers
Your building can get paid to use less power. We handle the rest.
NavigateDR enrolls commercial and multifamily buildings in Con Edison’s demand response programs and NYISO’s capacity market. You cut load for a few hours on the handful of days the grid needs it. We size the pledge, run the events, track performance, and send the check.
Sample outputIllustrative
- Property
- 200,000 sq ft office, Midtown Manhattan
- Network / tier
- Con Edison network lookup · DLRP Tier 2
- Curtailable load
- 150 kW
- Programs matched
- CSRP · DLRP · NYISO SCR
- Estimated annual earnings
- $20,000–$30,000
- Events last summer
- 4 · 16 hours total
01 What demand response is
A few hours a summer. Paid every month.
On the hottest afternoons, Con Edison and the New York grid operator pay buildings to reduce electric load for about four hours. Most buildings do it by pre-cooling, easing chiller and fan setpoints, and dimming common-area lighting — steps a building engineer can run from a checklist or a building management system.
In return, the building earns a reservation payment every month of the May–September season for standing ready, plus a payment for every kilowatt-hour it actually sheds. Nothing changes about how the building runs the rest of the year.
Demand response is not an efficiency program. It is a standby payment for flexibility you already have.
02 How NavigateDR works
One address in. A pledge, a plan, and a payment out.
1
Locate
Enter the address. We return the building’s Con Edison network, its program tier, its event window, and an earnings estimate — the same lookup that powers Incentive Navigator.
2
Size
We pull a year of interval data, walk the building with your engineer, and run a one-hour test. The pledge is set from what the building actually did, not from a guess.
3
Enroll
One agreement, signed online. We handle Con Edison’s enrollment, the aggregation filing, meter and data authorizations, and NYISO capacity enrollment on your behalf.
4
Earn
When an event is called, you get the notice and the plan; automated sites run on their own. After each event you see what the building delivered and what it earned. Payments follow the utility’s schedule, with a statement every season.
Four steps. You sign once and answer the phone on event days.
03 What a building can earn
Three programs. One pledge.
The same kilowatts can be enrolled in all three, and the payments stack.
| Program | Who pays | What it rewards | 2026 rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial System Relief Program (CSRP) | Con Edison | Day-ahead peak shaving, 21 hours’ notice, weekday afternoons | Up to $18 per kW each month, May– |
| Distribution Load Relief Program (DLRP) | Con Edison | Short-notice relief in your neighborhood network, 2 hours’ notice | $18–$25 per kW each month depending on network tier, plus $1 per kWh |
| Special Case Resources (SCR) | NYISO capacity market | Standing capacity for the New York City grid | Set by the monthly capacity auction; New York City prices reached a record in 2026 |
Example: A Manhattan office building pledging 150 kW in CSRP and DLRP Tier 1 earns about $27,000 in reservation payments over a season at full performance, before event and capacity payments. (Con Edison rate overview)
Rates are set by Con Edison’s tariff and NYISO’s market and change each year. Earnings depend on your network, pledge size, and performance during events. Staten Island and Westchester rates are lower.
04 Why enroll through NavigateDR
Built for the people who run the building, not a trading desk.
Shared performance.
Con Edison measures aggregations as a group. A building that comes up short on one event is covered by the others in its network. On your own, every shortfall is yours.
Access to capacity revenue.
NYISO’s capacity program is only open through a registered market participant. Buildings cannot enroll directly.
No paperwork, no portal.
Annual applications, aggregation filings, meter verification, data authorizations, and payment reconciliation are ours.
Someone on the desk.
Event notices arrive the afternoon before, or two hours ahead. We confirm the plan with your team, watch the meter during the event, and call if the building is not moving.
The incentive stack, all of it.
Controls work that makes curtailment automatic usually qualifies for Con Edison and NYSERDA rebates. NavigateDR runs on Incentive Navigator, so the upgrade and the demand response revenue are priced together.
Buildings that can commit 50 kW may enroll directly with Con Edison. Most do not: more than 95% of participants enroll through an aggregator.
05 Who it is for
If the building has a chiller, it probably qualifies.
Good fits: office and mixed-use buildings over 100,000 square feet; multifamily portfolios with central plant; campuses and hospitals; cold storage, industrial, and data rooms; any site with a battery or permitted standby generator.
What a site needs
- A Con Edison electric account in New York City or Westchester
- A smart (AMI) meter or interval meter — most commercial accounts already have one; we will confirm
- Roughly 25 kW or more of load that can be reduced for four hours (we combine smaller buildings into one aggregation)
- A person or a building system that can act on an event notice
Not required: a battery, a building automation system, an energy manager, or any upfront cost.
06 Questions owners ask first
Con Edison typically calls a handful of events a summer, each about four hours, on the hottest weekday afternoons. There is one short test event each season.
You tell us. Reservation pay for that month is reduced in proportion.
Rarely. Pre-cooling and modest setpoint changes keep spaces within comfort range. We design the plan with your engineer so nothing critical is touched.
Nothing upfront. NavigateDR keeps a share of the program revenue; the rest is paid to you. The split is in the agreement before you sign.
Con Edison pays about two to three months after each program month. We pay you as those payments arrive, with a statement each season.
Good — batteries are the most reliable demand response resource. We will check your interconnection and Value Stack status, since some arrangements change which program pays best.
Reservation enrollment closes in early spring. Buildings that sign later can join a voluntary option for the current season and move to the full program the next year.
For now. NavigateDR will expand to other utilities and grid operators; ask us about your market.
07 Contact us
Find out what your building is worth before the season starts.
Reservation enrollment for the 2027 season closes April 1, 2027. Send us an address and we will come back with the network, the tier, and an earnings estimate — no commitment.
NavigateDR is a demand response aggregation service of Incentive Navigator. Programs are administered by Consolidated Edison Company of New York under Rider T of its electric tariff and by the New York Independent System Operator. Incentive Navigator is not affiliated with Con Edison or NYISO. Rates, program rules, and enrollment deadlines are set by those organizations and are subject to change.