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County awarded $225,000 state EECBG grant to install 180 kWh battery at 35 Woodfin; projected lifetime savings about $589,000
Summary
Buncombe County’s Office of Sustainability said June 3 it received a $225,000 North Carolina EECBG grant for a roughly 180 kWh battery storage system at 35 Woodfin; staff said the project would improve energy flexibility, reduce demand charges, allow solar self-consumption, and has a projected lifecycle cost savings of about $589,000.
Jackie Hempstead of the Buncombe County Office of Sustainability told commissioners on June 3 that the county received a $225,000 award from the North Carolina State Energy Office’s EECBG (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant) allocation to fund the design and installation of an approximately 180 kilowatt-hour battery-storage system at 35 Woodfin.
Hempstead said there is no county local match for this award. The battery project originated in the county’s 2024 electrification feasibility study, which identified 35 Woodfin as a favorable site for battery storage. Hempstead said the county had already completed engineering comparisons of battery vendors and safety features to prepare a request for proposals.
The primary benefits Hempstead listed were increased operational energy-use flexibility, reduced demand charges through energy arbitrage (charge when wholesale energy prices are low; discharge during peaks), and the ability to pair batteries with existing solar generation to avoid exporting solar to the grid. Hempstead said the feasibility study estimates lifetime cost savings around $589,000.
Project specifics presented include approximate capacity (180 kWh) and that the county has until December 2026 to complete the project under grant rules. Hempstead said the initial battery recently installed at 40 Cox demonstrates a charging/discharging pattern that the county expects to replicate; the 35 Woodfin system is not currently designed as a resilience-only system but will be scalable if future needs require additional capacity.
Commissioners responded positively and noted the project will be on the agenda to accept the grant; general services and sustainability staff said additional behind-the-meter battery projects are on the capital plan though timing for further installations may occur in future budget cycles.
No county vote to accept the grant was recorded during the June 3 briefing; Hempstead said the grant acceptance will appear on an upcoming agenda and staff will proceed with RFP and procurement steps under the grant timeline.
