Item 11- Staff Briefing: Battery Demand Response Pilot — original pdf
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Battery Demand Response Pilot Hammad Chaudry Director, Energy Efficiency Services Lindsey McDougall Manager, Demand Response and Technical Services February 2026 © Austin Energy Item 11 Demand Response Accomplishments 2025: Record Year • ~57MW cumulative curtailment • Effective deployment strategy: June – September 2026: Winter Demand Response Test Success • Validate participant capacity and operational readiness • Develop winter Demand Response capacity forecasting 2025: Expansion • Enrolled all 195 eligible City facilities in Commercial Demand Response • General Motors joined Austin Energy Power Partner℠ EV Program – customers earn bill credits by helping with grid demand 2026: Power Partner Thermostat Updates • New Power Partner Thermostat incentives launched Feb. 1 • Customers can now earn $155 in their first year Resource Generation Plan Prioritize Customer Energy Solutions Further Our Culture of Innovation Virtual Power Plant (VPP) VPP controlled by Austin Energy Austin Energy’s Current VPP Capabilities • Smart thermostats • Water heaters • Building systems • Electric vehicles and charging stations What’s Next: Residential Battery Integration • Residential batteries added to the VPP • Customers incentivized to install new battery systems • Performance-based payments for demand response How It Works • Remote control of battery discharge • Telemetry data collected: • Battery state of charge • Battery performance (e.g., discharge levels) Customer Benefits • Support grid reliability and clean energy • Earn incentives while staying powered 4 Battery Demand Response Pilot Launching in FY2026 Customer Offering • • $500 upfront incentive per customer’s battery system (applies to new battery installs only with a cap of 1500 battery systems in FY26) $75 / kW annual demand response incentive per customer’s battery system (based on average kW reduction over the season) Eligible Battery Manufacturers • The pilot will support the following battery systems: • • • Tesla FranklinWH SolarEdge • Additional manufacturers will be added as the program expands 5 EM&V Consultant + Pilot Data Evaluation, Measurement and Verification (EM&V) consultant began in Fall 2025 Planning Evaluation Monitoring Independent Expertise Engaging an Evaluation, Measurement, and Verification (EM&V) consultant provides objective, third-party analysis of pilot performance Accurate Cost-Effectiveness Assessment The consultant will help quantify actual energy savings and pilot impacts, enabling precise cost-benefit analysis Support Data Our internal program data — such as participation rates, incentive levels, and energy outcomes — will be available to inform and strengthen the evaluation process Strategic Decision-Making Reliable EM&V results, backed by our data, guide resource allocation, program design, and continuous improvement Customer Driven. Community Focused. ©Austin Energy. All rights reserved. Austin Energy and the Austin Energy logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Austin Energy, the electric department of the City of Austin, Texas. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.