Potential Bill Credit
Smart Battery Pilot
Get rewards when you install or connect a qualifying home battery system
Why should you consider joining our Smart Battery pilot?
You might be surprised.
PGE’s Smart Battery pilot studies the best ways to connect batteries at customer homes to PGE's grid. At times of peak energy usage, we’ll charge or discharge your battery to either store or provide energy to the grid. Your batteries will remain fully available to you during a power outage or upon request – you’re in control of how much energy you wish to contribute.
Gain resiliency
You can rely on back-up power if there’s an outage.
Choose your savings
Save on your bill based on the amount of battery capacity you choose to contribute.
Optimize your solar
You’ll get the most of your solar panels. A battery lets you store the energy you generate during the day.
How it works & ways to participate
For PGE customers there are two ways to be a part of the Smart Battery pilot.
Shift energy and get rewards
All PGE customers with a qualifying battery system can enroll and earn rewards for participating in Peak Time Events.
No system? No problem.
If you don’t have a system and you live within a qualifying neighborhood, we'll offset the purchase cost when you agree to participate in Peak Time Events.
Why does my participation in this Pilot matter?
By adding your battery system to the grid, you’re part of a community that is creating a “virtual power plant” - one that lets us store and draws energy when needed. It’s an important step towards a clean energy future and a vital one as we add more renewables like wind and solar to the grid.
For example, if our solar panels or wind turbines are generating more than usual, we can store this extra clean energy in batteries and use it later to power your neighbors’ homes and businesses. That strengthens reliability and makes us better equipped to incorporate more low-cost, renewable energy sources into the grid.
Here’s some more details on the paths you can take to be a part of this pilot:
Get rewards for your home battery storage
This is a research study to help learn more about the best ways to connect batteries at customer homes to the grid and store power. When you join the pilot:
You'll earn bill credits of $1.70 per kWh of energy for each time you participate during a Peak Time Event – those times when energy use is high.
Batteries will remain fully available to you during a power outage or upon request.
You may choose how much of your battery’s capacity PGE may access during a Peak Event. If you do not tell us an amount, the default storage capacity, we would access during events is 9 kWh.
*To be enrolled in the Smart Battery Pilot you must provide a minimum capacity of 3 kWh.
Purchase a battery storage system as part of the Smart Grid Test Bed
PGE is planning to offer incentives to customers living in specific areas of our service territory. As program details continue to evolve, we’ll post updates here and reach out to eligible customers.
Answers to Smart Battery pilot questions
What is the Smart Battery pilot?
PGE launched its five-year Smart Battery pilot in 2020. Through this program PGE partners with residential customers with home battery storage systems. The program seeks to install and connect residential energy storage batteries that will contribute up to 9.5 megawatt hours of energy to our grid. Once installed, these battery storage systems will help create a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) that is made up of residential battery systems that can be operated individually or combined to serve the grid, adding flexibility that supports our transition to a cleaner energy future. In addition, these home battery storage systems provide customers with a backup energy resource they can rely on in the event of a power outage.
Why is PGE doing this?
As we build a cleaner energy future and add more renewable power like wind and solar to our mix, we’re developing energy storage so we can make the best use of these more intermittent resources. This is one of five projects that the OPUC (Oregon Public Utility Commission) approved to test different storage solutions to learn more about the most efficient and effective ways to store power and further modernize our grid.
How does the pilot work?
PGE will schedule times for your battery to be dispatched to provide energy at times of peak energy usage when prices are higher and electricity may be more carbon intensive. During these peak time events, you always have the option to opt out and your batteries remain fully available to you during a power outage.
Will PGE discharge my battery during an outage?
No, batteries are not dispatched during an outage event. All batteries remain fully available to customers during a power outage. PGE monitors weather conditions very closely, and in the event that severe weather is predicted that may be more likely to cause outages your battery will not be dispatched for grid purposes. Preserving customer resilience from their battery investment is among our top priorities of this Pilot.
What incentives are available if I already have a battery storage system?
In exchange for allowing PGE to connect to and operate their battery system to the grid, participating customers will earn bill credits of $1.70 per kWh of energy each time they participate in a Peak Time Event. Batteries will remain fully available during a power outage. Questions? Contact a PGE Battery Storage expert for assistance - smartbattery@portlandgeneral.com.
What incentives are available if I don’t have a battery storage system?
Eligible residents living within specific neighborhoods in North Portland and Hillsboro, can receive a rebate of $405 per kWh of energy storage committed if they purchase a battery through the Energy Trust of Oregon. Contact an Energy Trust of Oregon solar trade ally for a bid on a battery storage system (If you don’t have a solar system, now’s a good time to add it but it’s not required to participate in this pilot). Currently, there are *** rebates available.
How do I install my battery system?
Your solar installer will guide you through the process of installing your battery system (see the list of qualified products below) and connecting it to our grid. Your rebate will be reflected as a reduction on your final invoice. After your battery is installed, you’ll receive a link to connect your battery to PGE. That’s it! Have a question? Email us.
What does it mean to allow PGE to operate a residential energy storage battery?
Participating customers allow PGE to interact with and operate their batteries through cloud-based software. This software works as a load management system, allows the dispatching of energy, and offsets some stress from the grid during peak times. In a power outage, the participating customer retains full battery usage as a power backup. They are always in control to opt-out or override any PGE event.
How is PGE working with Energy Trust of Oregon?
PGE is partnering with the Energy Trust of Oregon to procure residential battery storage systems for eligible residential customers by leveraging their existing solar incentive program infrastructure and trade ally contract network.
An Energy Trust of Oregon solar trade ally can provide a bid on a new battery system. You can include solar if you’d like, although it’s not required for this rebate.
What else does PGE hope to learn through this program?
PGE will use the residential battery storage pilot to create a single resource that can help the grid balance energy production with energy demand, freeing up the generation resources that are typically held on standby, ready to kick in and accommodate significant fluctuation. This will allow generation resources that are typically fossil-fueled to do what they do most efficiently – generate energy.
The pilot will also allow PGE to test new smart-grid control devices across its distribution system that will more effectively allow a two-way exchange between PGE and pilot participants. The new controls will more actively manage the way that electricity is distributed across PGE’s system to incorporate energy that customers generate, such as through solar panels, while also meeting power demand that is less predictable, such as for charging electric vehicles. The controls will allow PGE to more actively manage power distribution to improve power quality for all customers.
What residential energy storage batteries will participants be able to buy through this pilot?
In order to give customers a range of choices and ensure technical compatibility with our system, customers will initially be able to choose options from Generac, SolarEdge, Sonnen, and Tesla. The PGE interconnection group must review and approve all customers service connection to determine the suitability of exporting energy from each installation location.
Important notice to customers who were participating in the Smart Battery pilot prior May 15, 2023:
PGE has received approval to change the Smart Battery pilot to the structure as outlined above based on what we've learned from participating customers during the past two years of operation. Starting on May 15th we will change from a set monthly rebate amount to participation rewards – on bill credits based on how much of your battery’s capacity PGE may access during a Peak Event. If you have any additional questions, contact us at smartbattery@portlandgeneral.com.