PSE&G Pays Customers $5,000 to Join Its Virtual Power Plant

New Jersey utility Public Service Electric & Gas is offering homeowners a substantial financial package to install battery storage systems — and in return, hand the utility some control over when those batteries discharge.

Under the GridSmart Battery pilot, participants receive a $5,000 upfront incentive plus access to up to $25,000 in zero-interest financing, repaid gradually through monthly electricity bills. The program is designed to test whether aggregated residential batteries can meaningfully support the broader grid during peak demand periods.

Enrolled systems will be woven into a virtual power plant network. During scheduled dispatch events — of which customers will be notified in advance — PSE&G will briefly draw on the pooled batteries to reduce household consumption from the grid. The utility is betting that coordinating these distributed assets could delay or eliminate costly upgrades to transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Lauren Thomas, PSE&G’s vice president of clean energy solutions, said the initiative lets customers invest in home resilience while giving the company data on how residential storage can bolster grid reliability.

The pilot also feeds into a broader policy push. New Jersey has set a 2,000 MW energy storage target for 2030, and last month the state’s Board of Public Utilities opened a proceeding to build a permanent, statewide VPP regulatory framework. Results from the GridSmart program are expected to inform those rules.

Source: PV Magazine USA