By Sarah Shemkus for Energy News Network.
Broadcast version by Kathryn Carley for New Hampshire News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

The early results of a New Hampshire battery storage pilot are being widely hailed, but it remains unclear whether the program will be expanded to test new models and new ways of benefiting consumers. 

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission issued an order Wednesday declaring that the first 20 months of the pilot, run by Liberty Utilities, met its goals. The order requires the company to file a new proposal by May 30 for how it will continue, modify, or expand its pilot program.

Liberty Utilities in November released a report finding that the first phase of its battery storage pilot, in which the utility provided batteries to 96 homes, yielded significant cost savings for participants and effectively discharged power into the grid during periods of peak demand. 

“I am extremely enthusiastic about the pilot and would like to see it continue to thrive and even expand,” said Donald Kreis, New Hampshire’s consumer advocate on energy issues. 

Getting batteries off the ground

Battery storage technology is becoming increasingly popular for its potential to lower costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve resilience in the face of power outages. But a widespread, coordinated deployment of batteries to maximize the benefits is still in its early days. The New Hampshire pilot is the first such effort in the state and could therefore provide a model for future deployments. 

The idea for the pilot program was first introduced in 2017. Liberty Utilities, which serves a small territory on the western edge of the state, proposed buying 1,000 batteries and deploying them in the homes of volunteers. The utility would also institute time-of-use pricing, allowing participants to charge their batteries at a lower cost during periods of lower demand, then use the less expensive stored power to offset their use when prices were higher, resulting in net cost savings. The stored power would also be available in case of power outages.

Liberty, however, would retain the right to control the batteries when a period of peak demand was expected. The utility would be able to discharge the batteries in the pilot to the grid when demand was highest, reducing costs and passing those savings on to ratepayers. 

Liberty would charge participants a monthly fee, and also spread out some of the cost among its entire base of ratepayers. 

Shaving costs and emissions

Many advocates agreed that the idea was promising, not just financially, but environmentally as well. When the demand for electricity from the grid goes up, it becomes necessary to bring online power sources that are more expensive and more emissions-intensive. Using stored power during times of highest demand can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by lowering the need for this pricier, dirtier energy — especially when batteries are charged using solar panels or power is drawn from the grid at off-peak times, such as overnight. 

“High cost and high emissions are very closely correlated,” said Sam Evans-Brown, executive director of Clean Energy New Hampshire. “Any savings on those peak events should have the potential to avoid a lot of emissions, because those are the dirtiest times of year for the New England grid.”

Still, many stakeholders — including municipal leaders, environmental and consumer advocates, and renewable energy businesses — wanted to see changes to Liberty’s proposal. Some wanted to see firmer plans for customer education and others wanted a commitment to create a similar rate structure for non-residential customers. Several parties argued that the pilot should include opportunities for homeowners to provide their own batteries in order to analyze which ownership structure yielded the most benefits. 

A year of debate and negotiation among stakeholders ensued before a settlement was agreed upon: Liberty would launch the first phase of the pilot including at least 100 and up to 200 batteries, with two batteries to be installed in each participating house. After 18 months, if the first phase met its goals for consumer savings and accuracy in discharging batteries to meet peak demand, the utility would be able to move on to a second phase, in which homeowners would acquire and own their own batteries. The settlement was approved in early 2019.

The report released late last year looks at the first 21 months of phase one and concludes it exceeded the targets set for moving on to the second phase. On average, participants saved 33% on their monthly electricity bills and the system was 79% accurate in discharging during peak demand.

What’s next for the battery program?

Despite these results, it is uncertain when — or if — Liberty will roll out plans for the second phase of the pilot.

Liberty will submit a proposal by the end of May, as required by the utilities commission, “but we don’t know what that proposal will look like at this time,” said Heather Tebbetts, director of business development for Liberty Utilities. 

Some stakeholders, however, would like to see a more decisive move toward a bring-your-own-device program in order to nurture competition in the growing storage sector and to maximize benefits for ratepayers. Adding more choices to the market, they contend, could lower costs as the market takes hold in New Hampshire.

“Liberty did not exactly give a full-throated indication that it was going to move boldly forward with phase two, and I find that disappointing,” said Kreis, the consumer advocate. “I don’t think we should create or sanction a monopoly where no natural monopoly exists.”

Evans-Brown of Clean Energy New Hampshire is also a strong advocate for expanding the pilot to include consumer-owned batteries. In the cost-benefit analysis of the first phase, he noted, a significant portion of the cost comes from the utility ownership of the batteries. The report found that every dollar spent in the first phase yielded 99 cents in benefits. Allowing homeowners to bring their own devices could add even more to the benefits side of that equation, Evans-Brown said. 

“You might be able to do it for less and there might be more benefits for ratepayers,” he said. “But we won’t know until we run that experiment.” 

Evans-Brown has been in touch with Liberty and other stakeholders and is optimistic that a second phase including a bring-your-own-device component will come to pass. Liberty, he said, is “the most forward-thinking investor-owned utility in the state.”

Some in the field, however, think further pilots are unnecessary. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont already have bring-your-own-device programs up and running, said Chris Rauscher, senior director of market development and policy at national solar and storage company Sunrun. There is no need, he said, for New Hampshire to test out concepts that are already working in the field. 

“We firmly believe they should stop doing pilots altogether and just create a permanent bring-your-own-device program,” Rauscher said. “I don’t really see the need for pilots.”

There is, however, widespread agreement on the need to pursue a bring-your-own-device model in order to maximize the benefits of growing interest in battery storage for consumers and electric infrastructure. 

“There are people who are ready to buy those batteries and we should be putting these batteries to use for the grid,” Evans-Brown said.


Sarah Shemkus wrote this article for Energy News Network.


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An electric cooperative supplying power to Western Colorado is pioneering energy independence for homes, businesses and farms.

They are creating a virtual power plant, a network connecting residential rooftop solar and battery storage to smart appliances such as heat pumps, electric vehicles and water heaters.

Lisa Reed, energy programs manager for Holy Cross Energy, said the microgrid can be tapped to keep the lights on when power lines from coal and gas fired plants are disrupted.

"Holy Cross Energy is implementing the use of virtual power plants to help with resilience, both for large events such as wildfires, but also smaller events, to keep our power reliable," Reed explained.

Holy Cross is standing up virtual power plants by providing affordable home battery storage options to members who subscribe to their Power+ program. The batteries store energy when demand is low and supply power during peak times or outages. Virtual power plants also reduce reliance on costly, polluting energy from coal and gas-fired units.

Tyler McDermott, regional organizer for the Western Colorado Alliance, said virtual power plants are also important for national security. If a hacker wants to take out a power grid, they can target a single conventional power plant but it is much harder to knock out a decentralized grid extending across entire communities. Microgrids also cost ratepayers 40% to 60% less than building coal or gas powered plants.

"We all want to pay less for our energy, we all want our lights to turn on when we flip the switch, we want our ACs to work in the hot summers," McDermott outlined. "Virtual power plants are the answer to one of the biggest problems that we're facing all across the nation but especially in rural communities."

Reed noted networked residential and business batteries also help community members save money on their electric bills in the middle of the day, when energy from conventional power plants is the most expensive.

"Holy Cross Energy discharges those batteries onto the grid to reduce our peak load, thus saving money for our members in power supply costs," Reed added.


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It is finally cooling down in Arizona, which means more leaves on the ground as well as heightened use of lawn equipment to keep Arizona properties looking their best.

The Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund has released an interactive map showing the more than 200 policies and programs in Arizona and around the country, aiming to slash air pollution and cut back on the noise produced from gas-powered equipment.

Diane Brown, executive director of the group, said programs in Pima and Maricopa counties provide vouchers to residents who turn in their gas-powered lawn equipment to be recycled. They then can more easily purchase and make the switch to newer electric tools.

She added gas-powered equipment has a significant and direct negative effect on air quality and public health.

"One of the key findings that is important for Arizonans to know is that running a commercial gas leaf blower for just one hour produces as much smog-forming pollution as driving a car from Phoenix to Dallas," Brown explained.

Brown believes state and local governments should lead by example, using electric equipment for their landscaping needs, as well as growing the number of programs and incentives around the state.

Brown pointed out major hardware stores have made strong commitments to provide more electric lawn equipment options. In a 2023 report, Lowe's claims it has helped its customers transition to battery-operated products, accounting for more than 60% of lawn equipment sales, excluding riding lawn mowers. And in the U.S. and Canada, The Home Depot said it is set to meet its goal for 85% of outdoor equipment sales to be electric by 2028.

Brown emphasized their interactive map shows the transition is a growing priority across the country.

"It isn't just the coastal states that have programs and policies in place," Brown noted. "Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas have programs, in addition to Maricopa and Pima counties."

Brown urged local and state governments to create or bolster programs to help more commercial landscapers afford the up-front costs of the electric equipment they use on a daily basis to improve air quality and save money due to lower maintenance and fuel costs.

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By Robert Zullo for the Utah News Dispatch.
Broadcast version by Alex Gonzalez for Utah News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

ust about every week, Shawn Grant, who works for Salt Lake City-based Rocky Mountain Power, gets an inquiry from another utility looking for information about the company’s Wattsmart battery program.

“We want to do something. … How did you guys do it?’” Grant, the company’s customer innovation manager, says he’s often asked. “We’re always fielding those questions.”

The program pays customers with solar who opt to install battery storage systems for the ability to use that stored electricity to help balance flows on the electric grid.

For customers, the benefits come in the form of lower electric bills and backup power in case of an outage. For Rocky Mountain Power, which has 1.2 million customers in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, the program allows the company to harness the collective power stored in those distributed batteries to shave electric demand when it spikes rather than calling for more generation from a traditional power plant, among other uses.

“We’re using every battery every day to reduce demand on the grid,” Grant said.

The concept is known as a virtual power plant, and grid operators, utilities, state regulators and lawmakers across the country are increasingly exploring the possibilities. They are seen as a cost-effective way to aid an electric grid that in many parts of the country is increasingly embattled by power plant retirements as well as difficulties building new, cleaner generation and the transmission lines they need — all at a time when huge projected electric demand increases loom.

“We’re now in this load-growth era,” said Robin Dutta, acting executive director at the Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association, a solar and storage industry group focused on Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. “When you’re mitigating peak demand growth at the source, that’s perhaps the most cost effective way to modernize the grid.”

‘Faster, better, cheaper’

Nearly 800,000 American homes installed a new solar or solar and energy storage system in 2023, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association. That growth set a record, with about 6.8 gigawatts installed, a 12% increase from 2022. Electric vehicles, another potential grid resource as a store of energy, also broke a sales record last year, despite consumer uptake being slower than some expected.

“These are devices that people are buying anyway because they’re faster, better, cheaper and virtual power plants allows everybody to leverage these devices while putting some money back in the pockets of people that bought the thing in the first place,”said Brian Turner, a director at Advanced Energy United, a clean energy trade group

The U.S. Department of Energy found in a report last year that large-scale deployment of virtual power plants “could help address demand increases and rising peaks at lower cost than conventional resources, reducing the energy costs for Americans — one in six of whom are already behind on electricity bills.”

They’re not a new concept, the DOE noted, adding that most existing virtual power plants are so-called demand response programs. In Virginia, for example, the commonwealth for years has run a program that enrolls hundreds of public facilities (airports, universities, K-12 schools, municipal buildings, water treatment plants and others) that agree to reduce or shift their electric demand to relieve strain on the grid. The DOE report says deploying 80 to 160 gigawatts of virtual power plants by 2030 could save about $10 billion in annual grid costs and would “direct grid spending back to electricity consumers.” At that scale, virtual power plants could meet between 10 and 20% of peak electric demand. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a research nonprofit focused on sustainability, called virtual power plants “a valuable and largely overlooked resource for advancing key grid objectives,” including reliability, affordability, decarbonization and electrification, among others.

However, many states are starting to take notice of the potential:

• Maryland’s legislature just passed a bill that, among other provisions, requires utilities to create a pilot program to compensate owners of distributed energy resources like solar and battery storage for services they provide to the grid. “Ratepayers and consumers who invest in clean energy systems should see financial benefits when they provide meaningful grid services,” said Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo, a Democrat from Montgomery County who carried the House version of the bill. “Our DRIVE Act does just that; pairing battery storage with renewable generation will help Maryland achieve its clean energy goals, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.”


• Michigan, afflicted by expensive electric prices and high outage rates, has pending legislation, part of a package of pro-solar bills, that would create a virtual power plant program.


• In North Carolina, the state’s Utilities Commission has approved a Duke Energy pilot, called the PowerPair program, that it had directed the company to propose that will give customers incentives to install solar and storage. One group of customers will turn over control of the batteries to the utility and the other will participate in a test of “time-of-use rates,” which aim to shift customers’ usage to periods of lower demand, like running a dishwasher overnight, Utility Dive reported.


• In the summer of 2022, the New England Independent System Operator, which manages the electric grid for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, became the first such organization to use a virtual power plant, Politico’s E&E News reported. Sunrun, one of the nation’s largest solar installers, said it linked an estimated 5,000 small solar and battery systems to share 1.8 gigawatt hours of energy. In the summer of 2022, during a heat wave that sent temperatures soaring across New England states, residential and other non-utility solar installations reduced demand on the system by about 4,000 megawatts.


• The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission announced in February that it was seeking comment on proposed rules related to use of distributed energy resources and virtual power plants. “Distributed resources provide the possibility for those who were traditionally consumers to play an active role in ensuring electric reliability and resiliency for themselves and their neighbors, and often in a less expensive way than traditional large generation that requires delivery infrastructure,” the commission’s chair and vice chair said in a joint statement.


• Arizona Public Service, the largest electric utility in the state, counts 75,000 smart residential thermostats in its Cool Reward program, which provided nearly 110 megawatts of capacity during the summer of 2022.


• A Colorado utility regulator is pushing for Xcel Energy to get a 50 megawatt virtual power plant up and running by the end of 2024, Utility Dive reported. The company, the state’s largest utility, already has a program called Renewable Battery Connect that allows it to discharge participating customers’ batteries during peak periods in exchange for financial incentives.


• In November, Puget Sound Energy, Washington’s largest utility, and AutoGrid, a California software company that provides distributed energy management systems, announced that they were expanding their partnership to develop a virtual power plant. “PSE’s VPP will reduce costs and help maintain reliable energy supply to its more than 1 million residential and business customers. Additionally, the VPP solution allows participating customers to receive monetary incentives for sharing assets with the grid and/or curtailing usage, something that’s financially beneficial for the community as well as helping the utility efficiently manage increasing electricity demand,” the companies said in a news release.

Why it matters


Experts who study and run the nation’s electric grid are worried about the pace of the energy transition. Old coal and gas plant retirements are accelerating, driven by economics, state clean energy policies and utilities’ own decarbonization goals. At the same time, massive backlogs in the queues to connect new power resources — overwhelmingly wind, solar and battery projects — in the regional transmission organizations that run the grid in much of the country mean big delays in replacing that retiring power generation. And after roughly a decade of flat electric demand, load growth is projected by many experts to explode as a result of transportation, industrial and home heating electrification, as well as a surge in data center development, among other factors. Throw in the fact that the construction of new transmission lines, essential to get excess power to where it might be urgently needed, has also stagnated and a problematic picture emerges.


“Most utilities in the country are planning on pretty significant load growth,” said Turner from Advanced Energy United. ”They could plan to build a new peaker plant or they could plan to ‘build’ VPPs.”


That’s where utility incentives come into play.


Generally speaking, Turner said, utilities that operate transmission and distribution systems are more friendly to the idea. Companies that also own their own generation, – and make a sizable chunk of their income from guaranteed profits on building new plants – , might not like the idea of a program that erodes the business case for a pricey new facility.


“That’s why we have utility commissions,” Turner said. “They exist to say to the utility that virtual power plants are a cheaper option for the ratepayer and therefore you should implement it.”


However, even companies that might have resisted the idea are facing such dire electric-demand growth scenarios that virtual power plants may be attractive ways to get more flexibility out of the grid more quickly than building new generation.


“This is a way to get the capacity online faster and oftentimes cheaper,” Turner said. “Meeting that load growth is a real challenge in a lot of places.”





Robert Zullo wrote this article for the Utah News Dispatch.


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