NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Con Edison's coolNYC program, which lets customers save money and energy by adjusting their room air conditioners remotely, has won a POWERGRID International 2014 Project of the Year award.

The program (http://www.coolnycprogram.com), a partnership between Con Edison and ThinkEco Inc., won recognition in the Customer Engagement Category.

In the coolNYC program, which started in 2011, Con Edison gives residential customers a modlet that they connect wirelessly to their room air conditioner. Once the modlet is connected, the customers can control their air conditioners from a smartphone or any browser.

New Yorkers rely on more than 6.5 million room air conditioners to keep them comfortable on summer days. Those air conditioners account for up to 2,500 megawatts of demand, or 20 percent of peak demand in the city.  Managing that demand is an important part of Con Edison's strategy to maintain its industry-leading reliable service.

The program's smartAC platform includes a wireless thermostat that also lets Con Edison adjust customers' air conditioners when demand for electricity is high and the utility wants to take pressure off its grid.

"Our coolNYC program has proven to be effective in reducing demand on the electrical grid during heat waves," said Rebecca Craft, director of Energy Efficiency for Con Edison. "That helps us provide the reliable service our customers need and expect."

The coolNYC program achieved a 22 percent average demand reduction during six heat events in the summer of 2013.

Participation in the program grew 70 percent in 2013 (compared to 2012) with the help of innovative customer engagement campaigns.

A survey at the end of the summer revealed that 91 percent of participants were satisfied with the program.

The editors of POWERGRID International magazine announced the four winners live Monday, Jan. 27 during the Electric Light & Power and POWERGRID International Awards Dinner in San Antonio. The event kicked off the electric power industry's No. 1 transmission and distribution show in North America, DistribuTECH Conference & Exhibition, and its sister show, the Electric Light & Power Executive Conference. 

About Con Edison

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE :ED ], one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $42 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, N.Y. For more information, visit www.conEd.com, our green site, www.coned.com/thepowerofgreen or www.Facebook.com/ConEdisonGreenTeam.

About ThinkEco, Inc.

New York City-based ThinkEco, Inc. is a leading Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology company, providing easy-to-use energy efficiency solutions for utilities, enterprises, and homes. ThinkEco's patented IoT technology platform enables cloud-based energy efficient and connected home applications powered by intelligent algorithms. ThinkEco also provides an attractive customer user interface and fully functional API with which utility and technology partners can integrate. For more information, visit www.thinkeco.com, follow the company on Twitter @ThinkEco and find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ThinkEco.

SOURCE ThinkEco, Inc.