Community Storage: SMUD’s Energy StorageShares Program

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) launched their innovative Energy StorageShares program in 2019. This program was the first virtual energy storage program in the US and allows commercial customers to invest in an off-site battery energy storage system and benefit from demand reduction cost savings without having to invest in a battery system at their facility. Eligible commercial customers make an up-front payment to SMUD for their participation in the program and in exchange receive a monthly on-bill credit. SMUD reinvests participants’ payments to procure and install a battery at a location that optimizes grid benefits. This innovative program won a State Leadership in Clean Energy Award in 2020. According to the judges, “SMUD has developed a new business model to drive economies of scale for energy storage with a shared-storage program that aligns commercial customer and grid benefits. It locates energy storage systems where they are most needed while saving customers money.” 

In this Clean Energy Group webinar, Chris Brown, Senior Resource Planning Analyst at SMUD, shared insights about how the program came to be developed, overviewed how the program works, and discussed critical lessons learned that can be a benefit to those working to design community energy storage. Marriele Mango, Senior Project Director at Clean Energy Group, gave an introduction. Clean Energy Group Project Manager Olivia Tym moderated.