As batteries have become more cost-effective, they have also become more in demand, in part, for the energy resiliency they provide during grid service outages. But as more homeowners and businesses attempt to add batteries to their solar systems, utilities have been throwing hurdles in the way, preventing customers from storing and using the energy they create with their own rooftop solar array.
In WE Energies’ current rate case before the PSC, RENEW has addressed this issue head-on and is asking the PSC to step in and regulate utility interconnection practices.
When installing a solar array, utilities often factor in the size of a rooftop solar array when they determine the cost to connect the system to the electrical grid. WE Energies adds the capacity of batteries intended to store energy at home (non-exporting) to the solar capacity in order to increase these costs and also make it so customers can’t benefit from net metering.
This utility practice has effectively blocked all non-exporting batteries from being installed in WE Energies’ service territory. To solve this, we need the PSC to officially tell WE Energies to stop this unreasonable practice and allow customers to install batteries that they can pair with their rooftop solar arrays.
Join us in telling the PSC to regulate WE Energies and require the utility to allow customers to pair batteries with their own rooftop solar. The deadline to file public comments with the PSC is September 18.
Sample comment:
WE Energies is blocking customers from adding batteries to their solar systems, but the PSC can remove this unreasonable hurdle and enable customers to invest in their own energy resilience. Certified, non-exporting batteries help customers store their own solar power for when the grid goes down. Yet WE Energies has made it impossible for customers to add these batteries by increasing interconnection costs and pushing solar customers out of net metering. I urge the PSC to do the right thing and allow customers to add batteries to their rooftop solar!