October 6, 2020
Arizona OKs home battery incentives as Green Mountain Power program shows millions in customer savings
The Arizona Corporation Commission last month approved the state’s first residential battery storage program — an incentive pilot proposed in August by the Arizona Public Service Company. Around the same time, Green Mountain Power (GMP) said its growing network of stored energy in Vermont, including home batteries and other resources, has reduced customer costs by about $3 million so far in 2020.
Increased adoption of residential storage could also bring cost savings to the utilities themselves, making ambitious renewable energy targets more achievable by reducing peak demand, according to Jason Burwen, vice president of policy for the Energy Storage Association.
“If Arizona seeks to achieve a 100% clean energy future, as the Arizona Corporation Commission is deliberating on now, a peak demand reduction target with energy storage would complement those clean energy goals while helping to keep service costs affordable and empower customers,” Burwen said in an email. He indicated that numerous states have pursued a similar strategy.
