"These incentives for energy storage will help Long Islanders grow their clean energy economy and create jobs while also improving the resiliency of the grid in the face of more frequent extreme weather events,” Governor Cuomo said.
The $15 million is immediately available to Long Island residents and businesses for commercial and residential projects through NYSERDA's Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program. The remainder of the funds, totaling approximately $55 million, will be allocated within the next three to five years. The initial incentives will support energy storage installed at customer sites for standalone systems or systems paired with solar.
As renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, increase across the state, energy storage will improve the efficiency of the electric grid in order to maximize the benefits of these renewable energy resources. Energy storage systems will also enable New York to meet its peak power needs while lessening the reliance on older, less efficient fossil-fuel generating plants.
Funding is currently available in the following two categories:
Commercial Incentives
NYSERDA's Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program will support new grid-connected energy storage systems up to 5 MW of alternating current (AC) connection located either with load behind-the-meter or connected directly to the distribution system. The first block incentive will offer $250 per kWh of energy storage installed. Eligible energy storage systems include chemical, thermal, or mechanical systems compensated under a Public Service Electric and Gas Long Island (PSEG-LI) tariff or load relief program. Eligible systems may be installed alone or paired with on-site generation like solar.
Residential Incentives
NYSERDA and PSEG-LI are also jointly launching a residential solar-plus-energy storage program that provides new projects on Long Island with an upfront storage incentive through NYSERDA's NY-Sun Program as well as additional compensation through PSEG-LI's Dynamic Load Management (DLM) tariff. The DLM tariff pays customers to reduce the amount of electricity used from the electric grid during hours when the demand for power is highest. NY-Sun will initially release two incentive blocks for new residential solar-plus-storage systems beginning at $250 per kWh of installed energy storage and then declining to $200 per kWh in the second block.
Targeting incentives towards projects that pair solar and energy storage technologies is expected to drive down costs and help residential customers see value in improving grid resiliency.
Dan Eichhorn, President and COO, PSEG Long Island said, "New York State is becoming a national leader in battery storage. This funding supports modernizing Long Island's energy grid with new technology that will help PSEG Long Island meet New York's ambitious clean energy goals. I applaud the Governor for his steadfast commitment to Long Island and New York's clean energy economy."
