Utility program deep dive · Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Eversource C&I battery, demand charge and VPP economics
How Connecticut’s Energy Storage Solutions, Massachusetts ConnectedSolutions, Clean Peak certificates and Eversource demand charges stack up for a business battery.
VPP Economics has no affiliation with, sponsorship from, or endorsement by any utility, aggregator, platform, or device maker named here.
The short answer
- Eversource business sites can stack two strong value streams: demand charges and utility event pay. Massachusetts G-2 customers pay $33.95 per kW-month in demand charges, and Connecticut Rate 37 customers $19.98, according to NuWatt, citing Eversource’s 2026 rate summaries. Connecticut’s Energy Storage Solutions pays $325 per kW-year for five years, then $175 (ESS). Massachusetts’ ConnectedSolutions pays $200 per kW each summer (NuWatt).
- In our central case, a 100 kW / 400 kWh battery pays back in about 3.5 years in Connecticut and 3.6 years in Massachusetts with the 30% federal credit. Event pay alone covers about 98% of the 10-year cost in Connecticut.
- How performance is measured decides how well the streams stack. Connecticut measures kW from inverter data, not a meter baseline (ESS program manual), so the same discharge can cut the bill and earn event pay. Massachusetts Daily Dispatch also measures a battery by its own average discharge, with no baseline (ConnectedSolutions program materials).
- Upfront money is mostly gone. Connecticut ended its business upfront incentive on April 1, 2026, except $10 per kWh for priority customers (ESS program manual). New Hampshire small businesses can still get $250 per kWh (Eversource).
What each Eversource program is
Connecticut Energy Storage Solutions
Small or medium sites (under 500 kW peak) earn $325 per kW-year in years 1–5 and $175 in years 6–10; large sites $275, then $175 (ESS). Events run noon to 9 p.m., 30–60 in summer and up to 10 in winter. A $350 application fee applies (ESS program manual).
ConnectedSolutions, Massachusetts
Daily curtailment pays $200 per kW for 30–60 summer events of 2–3 hours between 2 and 7 p.m., locked for five years (ConnectedSolutions program materials). Targeted dispatch pays $45 per kW plus a $10 weekend bonus for 3–8 events (NuWatt).
ConnectedSolutions+
$250 per kW around Greater Boston and $275 in southeastern Massachusetts, in named communities only (NuWatt).
Demand charges
Massachusetts G-2: $20.21 distribution plus $13.74 transmission per kW. Connecticut Rate 30: $32.31 per kW in total for sites under 200 kW; Rate 37 adds time-of-day transmission per kWh (NuWatt, citing Eversource).
Massachusetts Clean Peak Standard
Storage discharging in seasonal peak windows earns Clean Peak Energy Certificates. Prices are capped at $65 per certificate through 2032; recent long-term contracts cleared at $20.40–$36.40 (Clean Peak Market Outlook).
New Hampshire small business
$250 per kWh for small businesses that enroll in demand response for three summers (Eversource).
Value per kW of flexible capacity
Value per kW-year by source
What one kW of reliable reduction or event delivery is worth a year at an Eversource business site.
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A demand charge is set by the site’s single highest 15-minute interval each month, so a battery must be charged and ready whenever the site peaks. Event pay is set by the battery’s average kW across called events. The two overlap on hot summer afternoons, when the site peak and the grid peak tend to coincide.
Stacking needs care, depending on M&V methodology. Connecticut measures each battery from inverter data, so a discharge that lowers the site’s monthly peak also counts fully for ESS. Massachusetts Daily Dispatch does the same for batteries: performance is the device’s average discharge, with no baseline or same-day adjustment ({a(CS_CI_MAT, "ConnectedSolutions program materials")}). Non-battery curtailment and Targeted Dispatch use a last 10-of-10 baseline, and there a site that already shaves every afternoon shows less incremental reduction.
The capital stack
Ten-year capital stack
Federal credit plus 10 years of avoided costs and event pay as a share of installed cost plus 10 years of maintenance. Past the dashed line, the package more than covers its cost.
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Every case clears the 10-year line. In Connecticut, ESS pay of about $250k over 10 years nearly covers the battery on its own; demand savings of about $17k a year are the margin. In Massachusetts, the higher G-2 demand charge is worth about $29k a year, and ConnectedSolutions adds $20k.
These returns depend on load shape. A site whose peak is short and sharp gains the full demand saving; a site with a broad, flat peak may need a longer-duration battery to take 70 kW off reliably.
Simple payback
Years to repay net cost from avoided costs and event pay, net of maintenance.
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Assets and combinations
Shave the peak, answer events
A four-hour battery covers Connecticut’s three-hour events at full power and still has room to manage the site’s monthly peak.
Curtailment without a battery
Business operational changes delivered more than 100 MW of Eversource’s 227 MW reduction on July 2, 2026 (Eversource). ConnectedSolutions pays for that load the same way it pays for batteries.
Connecticut EV rates
Eversource Connecticut offers EV rates for commercial and municipal chargers that ease demand charges at low load factors (Eversource).
Financing and ownership
Own, borrow or share savings
A 100 kW / 400 kWh battery at a Connecticut Rate 37 site in Energy Storage Solutions, central case.
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The developer’s side
The site’s line above is only half of the deal. The developer pays the full $240k, carries maintenance, insurance and performance risk, and prices all of it into the contract to earn a return on its capital (Morgan Lewis). Third-party storage contracts usually run 15 years or more (Peak Power), and lenders treat 15- to 20-year terms as financeable (Illinois Power Agency). The chart below values each deal from the developer’s side.
What the developer earns
Present value of what the developer receives, as a share of what it spends, by contract terms.
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Connecticut is the exception among these deep dives. Energy Storage Solutions pays the battery owner $325 per kW-year for five years and $175 for five more, which works like a contracted capacity payment and gives a developer early cash. With that pay and the credit, a developer clears 8% even handing the site 25% of demand savings over 10 years, and can afford a 50:50 split over 15. Expect the developer to keep the ESS pay. After year 10 only demand savings remain, so terms beyond the ESS contract rely on the site’s load shape holding.
Additional Finance Options and Considerations
Captures every stream
Net cost about $168k after the 30% credit, repaid from about $40k a year on average.
Positive from year one
Payments of about $24k a year are below the average annual value, so the battery can be debt-financed at 8% and still produce cash.
Capital-free, workable here
ESS pay lets a developer claim the credit, keep the program pay and still share half of the demand savings over 15 years. It suits sites without tax appetite or capital budget.
Connecticut’s design choice
ESS pays more in years 1–5 to give businesses greater early cash flow (Connecticut Green Bank), which shortens payback and eases debt service.
What ifs
Massachusetts upside
At $30 per certificate, about 90 MWh a year of peak discharge would add roughly $2,700 a year before multipliers. DOER changed storage multipliers in 2026 (Mass.gov).
Batteries versus load curtailment
Batteries in Daily Dispatch are measured at the device; curtailed load is measured against a 10-day baseline (ConnectedSolutions program materials). Pairing a battery with load curtailment needs care.
Construction-start deadlines
Losing the 30% credit adds about $72k to net cost and lengthens the Connecticut payback to about 5.0 years.
Load shape
Each additional 10 kW reliably taken off the monthly peak is worth about $4k a year on Massachusetts G-2.
Different rates
Sites above 500 kW peak earn $275 per kW in ESS years 1–5 (ESS). Massachusetts G-3 demand charges are $30.05 per kW (NuWatt).
Energy charges differ
Sites on competitive supply or municipal aggregation pay different energy prices; demand charges on the delivery side still apply.
Compare: Eversource residential for households, and PG&E C&I for a California demand-charge contrast.
Method and caveats
An independent, hypothetical analysis for business owners, facility managers, program designers, developers and other readers in Eversource’s Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire service areas. Terms checked October 27, 2026.
Assumptions: 100 kW / 400 kWh battery at $600 per kWh; $15 per kW-year maintenance; 30% federal credit; 70 kW off the monthly peak; full 100 kW delivered across every event; Connecticut small or medium C&I tier; Massachusetts G-2 secondary service. Demand charges are as compiled by NuWatt from Eversource rate summaries.
Taxes, energy savings and Clean Peak certificates are excluded. Figures are illustrative avoided costs and gross payments before financing, degradation and augmentation. Gross payments are not net profit.
VPP Economics has no affiliation with, sponsorship from, or endorsement by Eversource, the Connecticut Green Bank, NuWatt, any aggregator or any company named here.