Texas public power utility Austin Energy is launching an innovative battery demand response pilot program designed to give customers new ways to support grid reliability while earning performance awards.
The Power Partner Battery pilot encourages residential customers to purchase and install home battery storage systems. Homeowners will receive $500 upfront to purchase a new battery to store excess energy.
Participants can receive an additional average incentive of more than $300 annually in exchange for allowing Austin Energy to use the battery's stored energy during periods of peak demand. The pilot is limited to 1,500 approved systems.
A demand response program pays electric customers to reduce their electricity consumption or to deploy their battery during peak demand times to reduce strain on the power grid and avoid outages and high costs.
The utility is targeting 78 megawatts of demand response by 2027 and 270 megawatts by 2035 as part of its Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan.
"Batteries are a key component of the Resource & Generation Plan focused on furthering our culture of innovation," said Richard Genece, Austin Energy Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions. "This Battery Demand Response Pilot program advances Austin Energy's progress toward a more established Virtual Power Plant program, as battery systems offer predictable capacity and unlock future opportunities for an enhanced grid."
Virtual Power Plants, or VPPs, are a network of resources – like home batteries, rooftop solar, smart thermostats and EV charges – that work together as if they were one large power plant.
"For customers, VPPs are a cutting edge way to turn home energy technology into a community asset, helping make the grid cleaner, smarter and more resilient. These expanded grid capabilities create greater operational and financial value for Austin Energy and, in turn, deliver more value to the community," the utility said.
The pilot will initially support battery systems from:
• Tesla
• FranklinWH
• SolarEdge
• Enphase
As the program expands, additional manufacturers will be added, further strengthening Austin Energy's growing VPP aligned demand response portfolio.
Austin Energy has been a clean energy innovator for more than 30 years, it noted.
In 1995, it bought power from the first commercial wind farm in Texas, and by 2024, it had more than 15,000 customers with solar energy systems at their homes or businesses..
