Maine
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
Do you need support?
Most people think of home battery storage as a generator alternative - something you don’t really use unless there’s a storm or power outage. But now, thanks to a new Efficiency Maine pilot program, your battery can actually earn you money.
By occasionally allowing the grid to use your stored energy during “battery events,” you get paid, automatically, every year. Battery owners can earn up to $550–$600 per battery per year, paid by Efficiency Maine. With a 10-year program term, that results in about 25% off your first battery and 50% off additional batteries for your home.
Questions? Join our webinar info session on May 26.
During times of high electricity demand (typically weekday evenings, when people are home cooking and watching TV) Efficiency Maine can call a battery event. When that happens, enrolled home batteries briefly share stored energy with the grid, reducing strain and helping stabilize electricity supply for everyone.
It's automatic; there’s nothing for you to do except stay connected to Wi-Fi. And you can always opt out – so if you’re throwing a party and want to store all your energy for your own use, you can opt out of the battery event.
Efficiency Maine pays program partners $200 per kW based on average power delivered across all event hours in the year. The aggregator (FranklinWH or Tesla*) keeps 20% for administration, passing $160/kW to the homeowner. Earnings are paid out annually.
The electricity grid is changing fast, and the infrastructure supporting it is aging. As electricity demand grows from EVs, heat pumps, and other electrification, and as more renewable energy comes online, the grid must get smarter to shift demand from peak periods to off-peak times in order to lower costs for everyone.
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are networks of home batteries that can act like a single power plant when the grid needs support. Individually, one battery doesn’t move the needle that much, but when hundreds of batteries discharge small amounts of energy at the same time, the combined effect can be significant. It’s fast, automated (homeowners don’t have to do anything), and uses energy that’s already stored locally instead of firing up expensive, fossil‑fuel‑powered “peaker plants.” VPPs are critical to the grid of the future, providing flexibility while improving resilience.
*Tesla intends to become an aggregator in this program soon but has not yet officially signed on.
Both FranklinWH and Tesla have weather-aware modes that protect backup reserves when severe weather is anticipated so your battery will not participate if an event is called. Efficiency Maine also says they won’t call events during potential severe weather.
The program term is 10 years for the state partnership, but homeowners can unenroll through their app at any time.
No — this runs April through March with at least two events every single month.
No — the program works with battery-only systems.
We don’t recommend it due to limited potential additional value and the possibility of reducing total value of your battery. The potential value of using a battery with TOU rates is significantly less than the value of this program. Participating in both means that your battery will discharge at 5pm every weekday to avoid peak rates from the grid. If Efficiency Maine calls an event at 6pm your battery will have less value to provide AND your battery will likely be drained before 9pm so you will be reducing both your EM payments and increasing your peak electricity consumption.