The Eversource ConnectedSolutions battery program. How the utility pays households for flexibility

The Eversource ConnectedSolutions battery program starts in a quiet Massachusetts living room, where a gray wall-mounted battery hums softly beside the washing machine and a small green LED blinks as the grid peaks on a hot evening. A push notification tells the owner that Eversource is about to draw power and that today’s discharge will earn another few dollars in incentives.

How ConnectedSolutions works

ConnectedSolutions is Eversource’s demand-response program that aggregates residential and small commercial batteries across New England and uses them as a virtual power plant during high-demand hours. According to Eversource, customers enroll approved battery systems and receive payments for allowing controlled discharges when the grid is stressed. Program details on the Eversource site

In practice, Eversource sends signals to enrolled devices during so-called "events" on peak summer afternoons and some winter days, reducing regional demand just when wholesale electricity prices and emissions would otherwise spike. The company states that customers can still keep backup power reserves and have the option to override events in many configurations, which keeps the product usable rather than intrusive for everyday life. Battery FAQ from Eversource

Incentives and battery partners

Eversource structures ConnectedSolutions payments mainly around the value of reducing capacity and transmission charges, which are based on customers’ peak usage. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, battery owners can earn seasonal performance incentives measured in dollars per kilowatt of enrolled power and dollars per kilowatt-hour delivered during events, according to current program documents. Participating contractors list

The utility works with a roster of battery manufacturers and installers, including companies like Tesla, Enphase and Generac through third-party installers, and offers ConnectedSolutions enrollment pathways via both residential and commercial projects. An installer list published by Eversource shows dozens of approved contractors in its territories, bringing the program from PDF policy language down to real electricians in basements wiring up storage units for everyday households and small businesses. Generac program page for ConnectedSolutions

Residential and small business use cases

In a typical home, the battery sits near the main panel and sometimes next to a humming heat pump, ready to cover critical loads like lights, fridge and Wi-Fi in an outage. With ConnectedSolutions, Eversource instead calls on this battery to feed the grid during peak demand, and homeowners receive an annual performance report summarizing earnings and event participation. The program is designed so that outages and grid events can coexist without leaving the customer in the dark, thanks to configuration options controlling reserve levels.

Small businesses, such as convenience stores or medical offices, can use the same ConnectedSolutions program to cut demand charges, which often form a large part of commercial bills. Eversource highlights case studies where batteries are stacked with solar PV, turning flat rooftops in places like Hartford or Springfield into quiet, sunlit power stations feeding both the building and the grid during selected hours. These practical examples show demand-response shedding its technical jargon and becoming visible in everyday settings.

Regulatory background and performance

ConnectedSolutions is embedded in the broader New England capacity market structure and state energy-efficiency plans, and it qualifies as a demand-response offering in filings with regulators such as the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Public documents on energy-efficiency program dockets describe battery-based demand-response as a key tool for avoiding more carbon-intensive peak generation and deferring grid upgrades, with ConnectedSolutions named as a flagship implementation for Eversource. Massachusetts energy-efficiency plan materials

Industry analyses and conference presentations cite ConnectedSolutions as one of the larger utility-led battery demand-response portfolios in the United States, with tens of megawatts of aggregated capacity spread across residential and commercial sites. While exact current enrolled capacity varies over time, Eversource describes the program as a material contributor to regional peak reduction, indicating that this product has moved beyond pilot scale into a recurring operational resource. Utility Dive analysis of ConnectedSolutions

CEO perspective and strategic role

Eversource Energy CEO Joseph R. Nolan Jr. has repeatedly framed customer-side resources as central to the company’s strategy for transitioning to cleaner energy while maintaining reliability. In investor presentations, he emphasizes that programs such as ConnectedSolutions turn distributed storage from a niche technology into something that lowers system costs and supports state climate goals. This positioning underlines that Eversource sees the battery program not as a marketing add-on but as part of its core regulated service model.

For Eversource, ConnectedSolutions can reduce procurement of expensive peak capacity, which feeds back into regulated earnings and bill impacts over time. The company’s disclosures mention demand-response and energy-efficiency as important elements of its investment thesis, even if the numbers sit amid large transmission and distribution capex. From a stock-market perspective, investors track how these programs influence allowed returns and regulatory relationships rather than treating them as standalone profit centers.

Risks, limits and customer experience

ConnectedSolutions does come with constraints. Customers need compatible hardware, internet connectivity and contracts that allow Eversource to control dispatch during specified windows. The utility notes in its FAQ that overriding events or failing to deliver expected power cuts incentive payments, which makes performance a two-way street between the household and the grid operator. Those terms mean that not every battery owner will want to participate, especially if they prefer to reserve full capacity for backup power.

From a customer-experience perspective, the main interface is still a mix of PDFs, contractor relationships and app notifications rather than a polished single portal. The practical touchpoints are the installer explaining the program in a kitchen with coffee on the table, the slight fan noise when the battery ramps up, and the email at the season’s end listing how many events occurred and how much money was earned. For now, ConnectedSolutions is more of a working utility product than a glossy consumer gadget, but its financial and environmental effects are concrete.

Context and Eversource stock

ConnectedSolutions sits alongside Eversource initiatives in electric vehicle charging, energy-efficiency programs and grid modernization, forming part of how the utility responds to rising peak loads and decarbonization rules in New England. While the battery program is only one piece of a regulated portfolio dominated by wires and substations, it represents a visible, customer-facing way in which the company monetizes flexibility and aligns with state policy goals. On the market, Eversource Energy stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange in US dollars under the ticker ES, and investors often look at the performance of programs like ConnectedSolutions when evaluating long-term earnings stability and regulatory support.