Three Virginia electric utilities will add battery energy storage systems to their electricity distribution networks this year, a move that’s intended to increase the reliability of electric service and is anticipated to lower the utilities’ costs by tens of millions of dollars over the next two decades.
Battery energy storage systems store electricity when demand is low and release it when demand is high. By drawing power from batteries instead of the grid during the highest-demand periods — the hottest summer days and the coldest winter nights — utilities can reduce their transmission costs and their capacity costs, which are based on how much electricity they get from the grid during those times.
Nelson County-based Central Virginia Electric Cooperative will get three battery energy storage systems, while the Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative and the Salem Electric Department each will get one, according to a news release from Lightshift Energy, the battery systems’ developer…