Salt River Project has initiated a program to support the installation and use of battery storage systems for its residential customers.
The battery storage incentive program will provide up to $1,800 ($150 per DC-kWh) for customers who purchase and install qualifying lithium ion battery technologies. The program will be available for up to 4,500 SRP residential electric customers on a first-come, first-served basis during a 36-month period, beginning May 1, 2018.
Scott Scharli, SRP’s manager of residential and commercial solar said, “If we can help our customers reduce their demand from the grid, SRP may be able to incrementally decrease the amount of assets needed in the future to serve our customers’ electrical load. Among other potential areas, SRP intends to study how customers use battery systems and how these systems perform in our desert environment.”
He also said that while SRP continues to add new, renewable energy resources, it is also conducting research to determine how increasing amounts of renewable energy will impact SRP’s electrical system. “The battery storage program will give us an opportunity to collect data and study how battery storage impacts customer energy use and the SRP grid,” he said.
The incentive program is tied to a legal settlement between SRP and SolarCity that was finalized in March of this year. Details of the storage incentive program were first unveiled in early March when it was disclosed that Tesla and SRP had taken the first step toward resolving a 2015 lawsuit filed against SRP by SolarCity, a Tesla subsidiary.
SRP noted that customers may sign up for the program at www.srpnet.com/battery.
