The state’s first commercial scale energy storage project is being planned by United Power, an electric cooperative headquartered in Brighton northeast of Denver. Located in Firestone, the 4 megawatt/16 megawatt-hour battery storage system will be one of the largest systems owned and operated by an electric co-op anywhere in the country.
“United Power wants to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to integrating new technology that can help boost reliability and keep costs down. Energy storage will play an important role in the grid of the future, and we’re excited to be starting now,” said John Parker, CEO of United Power.
The battery storage system, built by Tesla and installed by partner SoCore Energy, will store energy generated in the overnight hours when demand is low and discharge it during peak hours to reduce demand. Curbing peak demand will reduce costs and help improve the overall efficiency of United Power’s electric grid as it serves its more than 82,000 meters.
The Firestone system is the first of several energy storage projects that United Power will roll out, piloting an innovative “community battery” strategy which allows users to purchase a share of the battery system’s output to directly reduce demand charges on their monthly electric bills.
Back in 2009, “United Power was one of the first utilities in the country to experiment with the community solar concept with our Sol Partners™ program, and now there are community solar projects all over the country. Community batteries are the next big trend,” said United Power’s New Business Director Jerry Marizza.
Community batteries allow co-ops and their members to address the demand components of the utility bill — the portion that can’t easily be addressed with solar energy alone. Batteries provide opportunities to reduce costs, increase choices for co-ops and their members while improving resiliency of the grid.
Construction of the community energy storage project is expected to begin in the first half of 2018.