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Green Bank backs PURAproposal to shift battery incentives toward performance, proposes direct-pay options for low-income and multifamily projects
Summary
The Connecticut Green Bank told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority it supports shifting the Energy Storage Solutions program toward mostly performance-based payments, and outlined two direct-pay proposals that would advance some of the expected long-term performance payments to customers or contractors up front for certain projects.
The Connecticut Green Bank said it supports PURA's proposal to restructure the state's Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) incentives by favoring longer-term performance payments and a smaller one-time enrollment payment, and described two financing options that could front-load some of the performance revenue for eligible projects.
Why it matters: The shift is intended to reduce ratepayer risk tied to system nonperformance, improve alignment with federal tax credits for some ownership models and prioritize underserved and low-income customers. Green Bank officials said the change will require updates to enrollment systems, data sharing, and contractor outreach before a planned launch.
The Green Bank presentation said a simpler program that pairs a single upfront enrollment incentive with performance-based annual payments would make the program easier to explain to customers and help grow participation beyond early adopters. "One-time, no-strings-attached enrollment incentive plus truly optional performance-based incentives can really help customers and salespeople also really understand the program and encourage enrollment," Edward Kranich, associate director of energy storage at the Connecticut Green Bank, said during the meeting.
The Green Bank estimated the proposed residential performance structure would deliver roughly $304.50 per kilowatt-year (the Green Bank said this figure could also be expressed as $550 for a full 10-year enrollment, and asked PURA to clarify how the authority intends to express the rate). The bank also summarized PURA's proposed enrollment incentive as roughly $30 per unit of capacity for non-grid-edge customers and $130 for grid-edge customers, but cautioned that its figures reflect the program administrator's interpretation of PURA's draft filing and that PURA should confirm the intended units and summer/winter splits.
To address concerns that shifting value from an upfront payment to long-term performance payments will increase customers'near-term financing needs, the Green Bank proposed two direct-pay options:
- Proposal 1 (new projects): The Green Bank could estimate a system's expected performance payments, advance part of that amount up front to the contractor (reducing the customer's initial cash outlay), and recover the advance over time from the actual performance payments. "In this scenario, Green Bank assumes the risk of underperforming batteries as opposed to the ratepayers," Sarah Pine, associate director of the incentive programs team, said. The bank said it would prioritize this option for affordable multifamily, low-income and underserved projects but could expand if PURA directs it.
- Proposal 2 (already-paid upfront incentives): For systems that earlier received an upfront incentive and remain in the program under the older passive/active structure, the Green Bank suggested it could offer to refinance the existing obligation by fronting the expected future performance payments and then repaying the ratepayer-funded upfront incentive over time via direct pay. The Green Bank said the proposal would require a customer-by-customer evaluation of historic and expected future performance and could be implemented on a voluntary or mandatory basis; Green Bank staff said a mandatory conversion would simplify administration but acknowledged tradeoffs.
Green Bank staff said the program administrator is prepared to update its enrollment platform, create new incentive-calculation logic, develop a direct-pay product, and expand data-quality checks and telemetry requirements. The bank suggested April 1 as a realistic date for launching the new structure to align with the end of the winter dispatch season and to give contractors time to adjust.
The Green Bank also flagged implementation and market risks: shifting incentives to long-term payments will raise customers'near-term financing needs (an important adoption barrier), the federal homeowner investment tax credit (ITC) for owner-occupied standalone storage is scheduled to change at the end of the year, and potential tariffs or foreign-entity sourcing rules could complicate supply and financing.
Looking ahead: The Green Bank asked PURA to clarify the exact units and summer/winter splits in its draft payment schedule and offered to develop the direct-pay mechanics if PURA endorses the concept. Green Bank staff said more rapid telemetry and clearer API access from DERMS and OEM providers will be critical if the bank assumes up-front risk.
Ending note: The Green Bank recommended a measured launch with contractor training and early outreach, and said it would present more detailed cash-flow and cost-effectiveness modeling if PURA requests it.
