Massachusetts public power utility Holden Municipal Light Department and Lightshift Energy, an energy storage project developer, owner and operator, on Aug. 12 hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of Lightshift’s newest battery storage project in Holden, Massachusetts, which will serve HMLD and its customers.
Developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, the 5-MW/22-MWh battery project will charge during low-cost periods of low energy demand, and discharge during higher-cost peak demand periods.
This peak-shaving approach enables significant energy savings and environmental benefits for HMLD customers.
The day’s events included an on-site press conference featuring Massachusetts Undersecretary of Energy Michael Judge, State Representative Kimberly Ferguson and other local representatives.
“We are proud to be able to provide the citizens of Holden reliable energy at competitive rates, while staying ahead of state goals to advance non-carbon-emitting power generation,” said Barry Tupper, General Manager at HMLD. “We see battery storage as a key solution to mitigating the impacts of rising capacity and transmission costs for our community. Thanks to Lightshift and MMWEC, we are projected to save our customers at least $10 million throughout the lifecycle of the battery energy storage facility at the Chaffins Substation.”
This project is a result of a first-of-its-kind program by Lightshift and MMWEC, deployed in May 2024, to bring energy storage systems to several of the joint action agency’s member utilities.
Holden marks the first project commencing operations within the program, which Lightshift estimates will provide more than $200 million in energy savings across Massachusetts.
“The municipal light plants in Massachusetts have been out in front on energy storage -starting with the Sterling Municipal Light Department energy storage project in 2016, followed by several additional projects as part of MassCEC’s Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage grant program,” says Jason Viadero, MMWEC’s Director of Energy Assets.
“The HMLD project kicks off a broader 50-megawatt effort with Lightshift, and further demonstrates that MMWEC and the municipal light plants are committed to peak demand management and renewable integration to meet the demands of electrification and net zero emissions by 2050.”
“When it comes to improving the everyday lives of Massachusetts residents, HMLD and the Town of Holden are leading by example,” said Lightshift Co-founder and Managing Partner Rory Jones. “Working hand-in-hand with HMLD and MMWEC, we’re creating a blueprint to scale a transformational energy technology, battery storage, that will help maximize benefits for communities across the Northeast.”
The program also includes projects already underway in the towns of Groton and Paxton, with mid-stage development activities moving forward in several other communities.
In a recent episode of APPA's Public Power Now podcast, Jones and Viadero discussed the program under which MMWEC selected Lightshift as its exclusive partner to deploy the state’s first jointly implemented fleet of grid-scale battery energy storage systems.
MMWEC is a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created by an Act of the General Court in 1975 and authorized to issue tax-exempt debt to finance a wide range of energy facilities.
MMWEC provides a variety of power supply, financial, risk management and other services to the state’s consumer-owned, municipal utilities. It is the largest provider of asset-owned generation for municipal light departments in New England.
