GMP Tesla ESS Program
Green Mountain Power (GMP) customers can now sign up for the Tesla Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) battery backup program and have Tesla Powerwall batteries installed by preferred installer Power Guru.
GMP’s ESS program is open to all Green Mountain Power customers. You have the option of paying $55 per month or a $5,500 one-time-fee, a mere fraction of the cost of purchasing batteries. Customers get two Tesla Powerwall batteries and a Tesla Gateway energy management and monitoring system installed in your home or business in this 10-year lease agreement.
Tesla Powerwall is a battery that stores energy, detects outages, and automatically becomes your home’s energy source when the grid goes down. Unlike generators, Powerwall keeps your lights on and phones charged without upkeep, fuel, or noise. When paired with solar, you can recharge with sunlight to keep your appliances running for days.
GMP Bring Your Own Device Program
Another program available to customers through Green Mountain Power is their Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) option. You purchase and install the battery system, then choose the amount of energy from the batteries that is available for Green Mountain Power to utilize at peak times, and earn money back on your battery purchase.
If you enroll a battery for ten years, GMP give you an upfront payment of $850 per kW of storage enrolled for three hour discharge, $950 per kW for four hour discharge. If paired with a PV system in one of the areas of the state where extra storage will help the grid most, GMP will give you an extra $100 per kW. This program’s incentives max out at $10,500.
What does Green Mountain Power get out of this?
By installing electric battery storage systems in homes and businesses across the state, what GMP is doing is creating a vast bank of reserved energy that they can tap into during peak hours of consumption, often in the evenings when people are cooking dinner, doing laundry, and running other appliances. Instead of needing to fire up a power plant to meet this increased demand, they will opt to draw down their network of batteries instead.
Typically, GMP will utilize your batteries 3–5 times per month and otherwise will leave them at 100% charge, ready for a grid outage if one were to occur. And thanks to their storm watch program, GMP will not draw down batteries in a region where a grid outage may occur due to weather-related conditions.