Utility program deep dive · Massachusetts and upstate New York
National Grid C&I battery, demand charge and VPP economics
How Daily Dispatch, ConnectedSolutions+, CSRP, Auto-DLM, NYSERDA retail incentives and National Grid 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
- National Grid business batteries earn mostly from programs, not demand charges. Massachusetts G-3 distribution demand is $10.61 per kW-month, because transmission is billed per kWh (National Grid), against $33.95 on Eversource’s Massachusetts G-2 rate. Upstate SC-3 is $15.62 (National Grid).
- In Massachusetts, Daily Dispatch does the heavy lifting. It pays $200 per kW each summer, locked for five years, and measures a battery by its own discharge with no baseline (ConnectedSolutions program materials). Our central case pays back in about 6.1 years with the federal credit.
- In New York, the money is upfront and local. NYSERDA’s retail incentive is $175 per kWh in the current Rest of State block (NYSERDA via Central Hudson), about $70k on our battery. Auto-DLM pays $110 to $335 per kW-year under five-year contracts in six constrained locations (National Grid); systemwide CSRP pays far less.
- Stacking needs care, depending on M&V methodology. New York’s load-relief programs measure against a customer baseline from interval-meter data (National Grid), so a battery that already shaves every afternoon shows less event reduction. Massachusetts Daily Dispatch does not have that problem for batteries.
What each National Grid program is
Daily Dispatch, Massachusetts
Up to $200 per kW for 30–60 summer events of 2–3 hours, with day-ahead notice (National Grid). Enrollment is through curtailment service providers such as CPower, Enel X and Voltus. Battery pay is capped at 150% of site peak load (NuWatt).
Targeted Dispatch and small batteries
Targeted Dispatch pays $35 per kW plus a $10 weekend bonus for up to 8 events, measured against a 10-day baseline (program materials). Batteries under 50 kW use the $275 residential program (program materials).
ConnectedSolutions+ for business
In Bridgewater, Targeted Dispatch rises to $80 per kW through March 2030 (National Grid).
CSRP and DLRP, New York
CSRP pays $2.75 per kW-month in reservation plus $0.18 per kWh in planned events; DLRP pays $5 per kW-month in designated areas only (National Grid).
Term-DLM and Auto-DLM
Term-DLM is bid for three years, 4–8 p.m. weekdays, 2–10 calls a year. Auto-DLM pays fixed prices of $110–$335 per kW-year for five years in six locations, with up to 53 calls a year historically (National Grid).
NYSERDA Retail Storage
Per-kWh incentives for systems up to 5 MW that offset demand charges, join demand response or earn the Value Stack (NYSERDA). The full rate applies to the first four hours of duration (NYSERDA via Central Hudson).
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 a National Grid business site.
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The strongest values are location-bound. Auto-DLM pays most where local feeders are overloaded, and those contracts come with event counts that differ widely by site. Massachusetts Daily Dispatch is the strongest stream available everywhere in the territory.
G-3 customers can opt into a transmission demand charge of $21.91 per kW-month set at the coincident peak instead of paying transmission per kWh (National Grid). A battery that reliably covers that hour could save far more than the distribution demand charge, but the election only pays if the site can hit every monthly peak.
The capital stack
Ten-year capital stack
Incentives plus 10 years of avoided costs and program 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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Massachusetts Daily Dispatch alone covers more than the full cost, at about 107%. Demand savings add a smaller layer than at Eversource. In New York, NYSERDA and the federal credit cover about 47% before any operating value; whether the rest comes from demand charges or a local Auto-DLM contract depends on where the site sits.
We do not stack Auto-DLM with daily demand shaving. Both draw on the same afternoon discharge, and a customer baseline built from shaved days would shrink the measured relief.
Simple payback
Years to repay net cost from avoided costs and program pay, net of maintenance. Bars are capped at 25 years.
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Assets and combinations
Events first, peaks second
A four-hour battery covers 2–3 hour Massachusetts events and 4-hour New York calls at full power.
Baseline-measured
Load curtailment earns the same programs but is measured against a 10-day baseline in Massachusetts (program materials) and a customer baseline in New York (National Grid).
EV demand-charge relief
Massachusetts G-2 and G-3 EV pricing cuts the demand charge to $0 for sites below a 5% load factor through June 2033 (National Grid).
Financing and ownership
Own, borrow or buy a battery service
A 100 kW / 400 kWh battery at an upstate New York SC-3 site with demand shaving and CSRP.
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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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Upstate New York falls short even with NYSERDA paying $70k upfront. CSRP adds only about $2k a year, and about $13k a year of demand savings cannot give the developer 8% and leave any for the site. At the modeled cost, a developer cannot earn 8% and still leave the site a share of demand savings. Battery-service offers are not priced the other way around, as a fee on top of handing over the savings: shared-savings providers promote a guaranteed share from day one (Gridwealth Electric), and Peak Power’s projects in Westchester, New York, split bill savings and market revenue with the building owner (NYSERDA case study). A deal that cannot fund a share is usually not offered at all. A guaranteed 15% share would need an installed cost about 29% lower, near $171k, or a larger site where cost per kWh falls; providers such as Peak Power focus on facilities with more than 1 MW of load (Peak Power’s overview). The battery-service line above shows that 15% share. Location also changes this: in a high-priced Auto-DLM area such as Mexico, New York, at $335 per kW-year, a 100 kW contract would add about $34k a year (National Grid), enough to support a real shared-savings split.
Additional Finance Options and Considerations
Upfront money does most of the work
Net cost about $119k after NYSERDA and the credit, repaid from about $13k a year.
Tight cash flow
Payments of about $17k a year compare with about $13k of annual value, so a loan works only if demand savings hold.
Capital-free, if it pencils
At upstate SC-3 demand charges and today’s modeled cost, a developer cannot fund a share of savings. A lower installed cost, a larger site or a high-priced Auto-DLM location can turn it into true shared savings.
Rate lock supports debt
The five-year Daily Dispatch rate lock (program materials) gives lenders a contracted revenue line for the first five years.
What ifs
Massachusetts upside
Recent long-term contracts cleared at $20.40–$36.40 per certificate, under a $65 cap (Clean Peak Market Outlook); DOER changed storage multipliers in 2026 (Mass.gov).
Price spread of three times
At Mexico’s $335 per kW-year, a 100 kW contract is worth $34k a year; at West Adams’ $110, $11k (National Grid).
Rates decline as blocks fill
The next Rest of State block is $150 per kWh (NYSERDA via Central Hudson), $10k less on our battery.
Construction-start deadlines
Losing the credit adds about $72k to the Massachusetts net cost.
Coincident-peak value
If a site elects the $21.91 coincident-peak charge and the battery covers it every month, 100 kW would avoid about $26k a year, before the change in per-kWh transmission.
Local RFPs
National Grid awarded 7 bids from 3 vendors in its 2026 Massachusetts non-wires RFPs (National Grid).
Compare: National Grid residential, Eversource C&I for the higher-demand-charge Massachusetts utility, and Con Edison C&I for downstate New York.
Method and caveats
An independent, hypothetical analysis for business owners, facility managers, program designers, developers and other readers in National Grid’s Massachusetts and upstate New York service areas. Terms checked October 27, 2026.
Assumptions: 100 kW / 400 kWh battery at $600 per kWh; $15 per kW-year maintenance; 70 kW off the monthly peak on G-3 or SC-3 secondary service; full 100 kW delivered across events; Daily Dispatch at $200 for 10 summers; CSRP at $2.75 reservation for five months plus seven 4-hour planned events; NYSERDA at $175 per kWh. Demand charges are distribution only.
Taxes, energy and supply 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 National Grid, NYSERDA, Mass Save, any curtailment service provider or any company named here.