Application questions
Q: If we are accepted as a contractor in Connected Solutions, do we need to go through the manufacturer certifications again?
A:
No. We ask that you provide evidence of current certifications at the time of the Eligible Contractor or Third-Party Owner Application, found here https://energystoragect.com/contractor-application/.
Q: How long will it take for my application to be approved after submission?
A:
After submitting your eligible contractor application, the Connecticut Green Bank (Green Bank) will review your application within a reasonable timeframe and send out a letter of approval or a letter of rejection with follow ups as soon as practicable depending upon the quality of the submission.
Q: Do approved solar contractors need to resubmit an application for eligibility?
A:
Yes, all contractors new to ESS will be required to submit an Eligible Contractor application.
Technology questions
Q: How does a battery manufacturer become eligible for the program? Do you have an application form for technology providers? Who should we get our preferred technology vendors in touch with?
A:
Please have the battery energy storage system (BESS) operator, including the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), contractor, BESS Aggregator or Third-Party Owner (TPO), BESS Operator, etc complete the New Technologies Request form, found on the energy storage webpage and at the following link: https://energystoragect.com/contractor-resources/.
That request form will be reviewed to determine if the BESS meets the minimum technical requirements and is able to move forward with integration with the Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS). Once accepted, the BESS OEM, BESS Aggregator, and/or TPO will then be responsible for working with the DERMS platform managers to complete integration before being listed as eligible equipment.
Q: Where can we find the list of current eligible battery/inverter manufacturers (OEMs)?
A:
You can find the list of eligible OEMs here. This is updated throughout the year as new OEMs complete all requirements of the New Technology Application and Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) integrations.
Q: Can I still qualify for incentives if my battery equipment is not on the Eligible Equipment list?
A:
Residential customers who wish to enroll in Energy Storage Solutions should not install or sign a sales contract for equipment that is not on the Eligible Equipment list.
Commercial & Industrial customers who wish to enroll in Energy Storage Solutions should contact the Connecticut Green Bank if their preferred equipment is not yet eligible.
Q: Are there any islanding/microgrid requirements for participants?
A:
As mandated by PURA, islanding is a primary requirement in the Program that ensures customers separate their interconnected load from their grid connection during power outages in support of enhanced resiliency to Program participants.
Q: If a Commercial and Industrial (C&I) site already has an on-site backup generator, why would islanding be a requirement?
A:
To prevent backfeeding onto the grid for protection of utility workers and to meet the resiliency requirements as directed in the PURA Final Decision.
Customer Enrollment questions
Q: What is a “priority” customer?
A:
Priority customers are the four customer categories identified by PURA to be at risk, and for which PURA has allowed additional incentives. These customers are: (1) critical facilities, (2) grid-edge, (3) small businesses, and (4) C&I spaces replacing onsite fossil-fuel generation.
Q: What happens when a customer sells their home?
If the battery is remaining with the home, there are two options:
(A) the new homeowner is interested in participating in the program and completes a BESS Ownership Transfer Form, or
(B) the new homeowner is not interested in participating in the Programs, and the Program Administrators will seek to recoup the upfront incentive through the process reported in the Program Manual.
Q: How will low-income qualification be processed/vetted? Who/how will eligibility be determined?
A:
The low-income Energy Storage Solutions incentive will be available only to households with income less than 60% of the state median income. To verify qualification, contractors will collect one of the following three items for all household members with income: (1) Last two pay stubs for all the household members who are 15 years old and older earning more than $3,500 a year (2) W2 from the previous calendar year, (3) Documentation of customer’s enrollment in another low-income program. Customers are also eligible if they can demonstrate any of the criteria or participate in any existing social service programs listed on the webpage at https://energystoragect.com/low-income-verification. The contractor will then collect a completed and signed Affidavit of Low-Income Eligibility using one of the items from the list above and submit it on the enrollment platform at the time of project completion.
The Green Bank may audit up to 50% of low-income projects for each participating contractor and reserves the right to audit additional projects.
Dispatch questions
Q: Do customers have to apply for both active and passive dispatch?
A:
Residential customers enrolling on or after April 1, 2026, will participate through Active Dispatch and are not enrolled in Passive Dispatch. Customers may be eligible to receive Performance Incentives based on their participation in Active Dispatch events.
Customers who enrolled prior to April 1, 2026, may continue to participate under the Legacy Program rules, which may include both Active Dispatch and Passive Dispatch.
Commercial and industrial (C&I) customers should consult with their contractor or Program Administrator regarding available dispatch participation options and incentive eligibility.
Q: Is the contractor or customer responsible for manually changing battery setting for Passive or Active dispatch?
A:
Not necessarily. Active dispatch dates and start/end times will be communicated to the customer’s battery provider by the Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) through their Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) Provider. The battery provider will implement the settings for the BESS. Passive dispatching information will be provided in advance of the Passive Dispatch season for implementation by the customer’s battery provider.
Q: Does the utility have full dispatch and scheduling rights for the BESS?
A:
The utility may call Active Dispatch events during designated dispatch seasons to help support grid reliability during periods of high electricity demand. Active Dispatch events may occur during the summer and winter dispatch seasons and are typically limited to specific event windows established by the program.
Customers who enrolled in the Legacy Program prior to April 1, 2026, may also have Passive Dispatch requirements. Customers enrolling on or after April 1, 2026, participate through Active Dispatch only.
The Passive dispatch season runs on non-holiday weekdays from June to August between 5 PM and 8 PM and the Active dispatch season runs from June to September any two or three hours between noon and 9 PM.
To help preserve backup power during severe weather or emergency conditions, dispatch events may be canceled by the Program Administrators before major storm events or grid emergencies.
Q: Can the customer choose how much they are willing to discharge?
A:
Passive dispatch requires customers to discharge batteries reserving 20% of rated battery capacity during the passive dispatch hours. Customers are requested to discharge full available battery capacity when called for Active dispatching.
Q: Is there a penalty if the battery is not available?
A:
Non-performance in Passive events during the 10-year participation of the program will result in an annual non-compliance with Program requirements and the customer will be required to return a prorated portion of the un-earned incentive. This claw back evaluation process will commence at the end of the summer season. The evaluation will determine whether a participating BESS responded to the passive dispatch hours and dispatched the available energy in the battery down to 20% of rated battery capacity over the 3-hour passive dispatch window as uniformly as possible. See the Passive Dispatch Compliance Webinar Recording and Slides for more details on the compliance requirements. Each year that the system is non- compliant with this threshold, the customer will be responsible for returning up to 10% of the upfront incentive (“Violation Fee”) prorated to the performance shortfall relative to the 90% of passive dispatch minimum required score. If the customer does not pay the violation fees as described above, performance incentive payouts will be swept by the Green Bank until the cost of the violation fee is recovered. If no performance incentive payouts are available to be swept, the customer will be billed by the Green Bank. If the system owner is able to demonstrate a valid reason for non-compliance (e.g. equipment or software failure beyond the system owner’s control), they may appeal the Violation Fees to the Green Bank directly and need to do so immediately. The Program Administrators are prohibited from unilaterally waiving any upfront incentive violation fees. All violation fee waivers will now require review and approval from the Authority. To facilitate this process, the Program Administrators must submit all recommended violation fee waivers to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority for approval annually by November 1.
Please refer to the Program Manual for further details on passive dispatch season performance and claw back violation fees.
There is not penalty for Active non-performance, per se, as the Active incentive is performance based and paid after the season closes. However, for Legacy Passive customers, if an Active Event is called to replace a Passive Event,
Q: How charged does the battery need to be to participate in the Active dispatch events?
A:
The active dispatch expectation is that 100% of the battery’s available capacity will be dispatched during the event timing. Available capacity is the full battery discharge capacity that will not void the customer’s battery warranty.
Q: Can a customer override the passive or active dispatch for power if they needed to prioritize the on-site load?
A:
During the dispatch seasons, the customer cannot override the system during passive events, as that will affect program compliance. Passive events can be overridden by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) in Storm Outage scenarios. The Storm Outage data needs to be provided by the OEM to the Green Bank by October 15 each year for those events to count towards participation.
The customer can override the active dispatch by not participating or curtailing during an active event. If participating in Passive this may impact your Passive compliance. Check with the OEM or BESS Operator or Aggregator regarding notifications for opting out of an active event.
Q: How often will there be less than a 24-hour notice of active discharge events?
A:
We do not anticipate there will be many events called with less than 24-hour notice. When that happens, that event will not be counted in the calculation of average performance.
Q: What criteria are used to determine if an active dispatch event is either 1, 2, or 3 hours? What do the utilities expect will be most common? The Average?
A:
The criteria is typically based on the ISO NE three-day forecasts but there are other variables that need to be considered. Typically, the EDCs expect events to have a duration of 2-3 hours. This allows the best probability of impacting the targeted ISO hourly peak.
Q: Please expand on the process to bypass the passive settings to draw on batteries in an event of a forecasted weather event that can generate anticipated outages.
A:
The EDCs will communicate the override or cancellation of passive events via the DERMS. How the batteries are used during the outage will be up to customers. Please contact the battery inverter’s OEM for further information regarding system settings and functionality.
Q: What is the DERMS provider being used for the program?
A:
The Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) provides dispatching to BESS for scheduled active events. The DERMS vendors will communicate to the BESS “last mile” contractor via a secure API or open ADR connection. The BESS will also communicate battery data to the DERMS to verify battery performance for passive and active dispatch performance and compensation. In UI territory the DERMS provider for both residential and C&I is Uplight and in Eversource territory the DERMS provider for residential is Energyhub and C&I is Uplight.
Q: Will the battery be dispatched in the event of a storm?
A:
When severe weather is forecasted, the EDCs will provide 48 hours advance notification that passive events and scheduled active events are cancelled until the impacts of the storm have passed.
Incentive Payment questions
Q: How will the upfront incentive or Enrollment incentive be paid out?
A:
For customers enrolling on or after April 1, 2026, the Connecticut Green Bank administers payments relating to the Enrollment Incentive. The Enrollment Incentive is paid directly to the contractor after project completion and is typically reflected in a reduction in the customer’s total system cost or lease or PPA price.
Performance Incentives are administered by Eversource or UI and are paid based on a battery system’s participation in Active Dispatch events during the applicable dispatch season.
Customers who enrolled prior to April 1, 2026, may continue to receive incentives under the Legacy Program rules, including the Upfront Incentive and Performance Incentives, as applicable.
For the monthly payment schedule please visit the Contractor Resources page.
Q: How will the performance incentive be paid out?
A:
The performance incentive associated with participation in Active dispatch will be administered by Eversource and UI. The settlement for active dispatch will be generated at the end of the summer and winter dispatch seasons.
Q: Will there be a baseline to measure the active dispatch performance?
A:
No, there will be no baseline. The calculation of the average performance will be based on the discharge performance across all events called during the dispatch season. The battery Energy Storage System must participate in at least one event during the season in order to receive a payment.
Q: Will customers be able to designate a third party to receive active incentive payments?
A:
Yes. If desired, applicants can designate another party, such as a financial institution, to receive a portion of or the full performance incentive payments. The financial institution information will not be captured at the time of the initial application and instead after installation is complete through a payment beneficiary form.
General questions
Q: Are there additional Program elements and incentives?
A:
No, participation in capacity and ancillary markets is not allowed.
Consult with a tax professional to learn about potential tax incentives and any potential changes.
Q: Can a battery participate in Connected Solutions and Energy Storage Solutions?
A:
No, they are two different programs. The BESS will only participate in one program, not both. A customer may move from Connected Solutions to the active portion of Energy Storage Solutions but will not be able to switch back to Connected Solutions. If you are in Connected Solutions and would like to transfer to Energy Storage Solutions, please email energystoragesolutions@eversource.com and energystorage@ctgreenbank.com.
Q: How would you recommend that contractors explain the incentive drop off in years 6-10?
A:
The number one priority for PURA was to design a program in a cost-effective way. To accomplish this, PURA set a Ratepayer Impact Measure (RIM) target of 1.40. The reduction in incentive is needed to meet the cost-effective requirement of the program.
Q: Can customers stack this program with a current program they are already doing with an asset manager or operator?
A:
If participating in other demand response programs diminishes the BESS’s availability to perform during passive or active dispatches, then stacking will not be encouraged.
Non-compliance with passive dispatch will trigger violation notifications and require recoupment of a prorated portion of the upfront incentive. Average participation in active dispatch will be affected, and the performance payment will be lower.
Q: Is there a 10-year warranty requirement on the equipment to qualify for the incentives? & Can you elaborate on the need for a 10-year warranty? Does this include OEM?
A:
To receive an incentives, the equipment must have at least a 10-year warranty. All Eligible Contractors must offer a minimum 10-year workmanship warranty.
Q: Is the battery incentive available in all municipalities and are municipality utilities included?
A:
The Energy Storage Solutions Program will be available only in Eversource and UI service territories. Municipal utilities are not included.
