Conn. offers incentives for storing electricity
State officials have launched a nine-year program to promote the use of battery storage of electricity for residential, as well as commercial and industrial energy customers.
The Energy Storage Solutions program will provide upfront incentives based on the size of the storage system. The average residential incentive, according to officials with Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, will be around $200 per kilowatt hour, with a $7,500 ceiling per project.
Commercial and industrial customers will also be eligible for upfront incentives, with the maximum incentive capped at 50 percent of the project cost. Customers in all three categories will also be eligible for performance incentive payments based on the average power an electric storage project contributes to the grid during critical periods.
Marissa Gillett, PURA’s chairwoman, said the incentives will “put Connecticut on the map as a potential leader in realizing the benefits of energy storage.”
“The launch of Energy Storage Solutions builds on that vision by establishing a statewide comprehensive program that not only incorporates different applications and types of electric storage, but ensures the state is on a path to achieving 1,000 megawatts by 2030,” Gillett said.
The incentive program will be administered by The Connecticut Green Bank, the quasi-public agency that works to attract private investment in energy efficiency and renewable power projects. The chairman of the legislature's Energy & Technology Committee, state Sen. Norman Needleman, D-Essex, said having battery storage for your home provides residential electric customers with multiple benefits.
“Wind and solar energy don’t operate at your command, like a power plant,” Needleman said. “And when done right, battery storage can provide some reliability, as well as the ability to switch from pulling power from the grid when it is most expensive.”
The greater the energy storage capability Connecticut has, the “fewer fossil fuel units will be needed for grid reliability,” said state Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, House chairman of the Energy & Technology Committee.
But the cost of battery of a storage system isn’t cheap, with a price range of between $10,000 and $15,000 before incentives, including a federal tax credit, according to Junhui Zhao, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the University of New Haven.