ConnectedSolutions 2026: $1,500 Battery Rebate Guide

If you live in Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island and own a home battery, you may be sitting on the most generous battery incentive in the United States and not even know it. The ConnectedSolutions program — run by National Grid, Eversource, Unitil, and Rhode Island Energy — pays homeowners hundreds to thousands of dollars per year to let the utility briefly draw from a home battery during peak summer demand events. In 2026 the program continues to be one of the only places in the country where a battery can pay for itself in 5 to 7 years on incentives alone, before you count any backup power benefit during outages [1][2].

This guide explains exactly how ConnectedSolutions works in 2026, what you can expect to earn with a Tesla Powerwall 3, an Enphase IQ 5P, or a FranklinWH aPower 2, and the gotchas to avoid before signing the dispatch agreement.

What ConnectedSolutions Actually Pays

ConnectedSolutions is a battery demand-response program. Once enrolled, your utility is allowed to dispatch your battery during 30–60 peak load events per summer (typically June through September, and a smaller winter season for some utilities). Each dispatch lasts two to three hours, almost always between 2 PM and 8 PM on the hottest weekdays. You get notified in advance through your battery app, and you can opt out of any individual event without losing your enrollment, though doing so reduces your payment for that event.

The payment is structured per kilowatt of average summer dispatch capacity, not per kWh delivered. For 2026, the headline rates are:

• Massachusetts (Eversource and National Grid): $275 per kW summer, $50 per kW winter [1]
• Rhode Island (Rhode Island Energy): $400 per kW summer, $100 per kW winter [3]
• Connecticut (Eversource and United Illuminating, branded as Energy Storage Solutions): roughly $200 per kW upfront plus performance payments of $115–$165 per kW summer, paid out over a 10-year contract [4]

A typical 13.5 kWh / 11.5 kW Tesla Powerwall 3 in Massachusetts that averages 5 kW of dispatch capacity earns about 5 × $275 = $1,375 per summer plus $250 for the winter season — call it $1,600 per year [1]. Two Powerwalls roughly double that, though most utilities cap the payable dispatch per home at 10–15 kW. Over the standard five-year MA/RI contract, that is $7,500–$8,000 of pure incentive payments on top of any electricity bill savings from solar self-consumption.

Rhode Island is the highest-paying jurisdiction in the country on a per-kW basis, and Connecticut's structure differs because it pairs upfront and performance components into a single ten-year offering. Always run the specific math for your home using the EnergyScout solar and battery calculator before assuming the headline rate applies to your battery model.

Who Is Eligible in 2026

The program is open to any residential electric customer of the participating utility who installs an eligible battery system. The qualifying battery list is updated annually but as of 2026 includes:

• Tesla Powerwall 2, Powerwall+, Powerwall 3, and Powerwall 3P
• Enphase IQ Battery 3T, 5P, 10T, and 10C
• FranklinWH aPower and aPower 2
• SolarEdge Energy Bank
• Generac PWRcell
• LG Chem ESS units (legacy installs only; no longer sold new)
• sonnenCore+ and sonnenEvo

The battery must be paired with an internet connection that lets the utility's aggregator (typically Tesla, Enphase, or a third-party platform like Sunrun's PowerNet) issue dispatch commands. Standalone batteries without solar do qualify, which is unusual; many state battery rebates require co-location with PV.

There is no household income cap and no requirement that the battery be new — many homeowners with batteries installed before 2023 are still eligible if their model is on the list. You also do not need to enroll the entire battery's capacity. Most platforms let you reserve a backup buffer (typically 20–50%) that the utility cannot touch, ensuring your home keeps a reserve for the next storm. Tesla calls this the "Backup Reserve" slider in the app; Enphase calls it "Reserve Power."

How Enrollment Actually Works

In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the simplest path is through your battery vendor. Tesla offers "Tesla Electric for ConnectedSolutions" enrollment directly in the Tesla app, which handles the utility paperwork and aggregator role for you. Enphase enrolls owners through its Enphase Energy partner program, also in-app. FranklinWH and SolarEdge owners typically enroll through their installer or through an independent aggregator like Sunrun, ev.energy, or Voltus.

In Connecticut, the program runs through the state's Energy Storage Solutions portal, and enrollment requires the installer to be on a pre-approved list. New England Clean Energy, Sunrun, Tesla, and several local installers are all approved; if your installer is not on the list, ask them why before you sign. Connecticut also offers an upfront incentive payment at install ("Passive Dispatch") on top of the performance-based payments, paid directly to the customer or assigned to the installer to reduce sticker price [4].

Expect 30–60 days from contract signature to first dispatch eligibility, primarily because of utility verification and net-metering interconnection paperwork. You will not earn payments retroactively for the days before official enrollment, so do not delay — the summer season starts June 1 and the highest-value events tend to cluster in July and August heat waves.

How ConnectedSolutions Stacks With Other Incentives

The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D — the 30% tax credit on home solar and battery purchases — expired at the end of 2025 for cash and loan transactions. However, batteries installed under a third-party-owned lease or PPA can still capture the 30% Section 48E investment credit through the lessor, who typically passes the savings into a lower lease price [5][6]. This is one of the few situations in 2026 where a TPO lease can actually beat ownership in net economics, especially if you live in a ConnectedSolutions territory and want to enroll quickly without a large up-front check.

On the state side, Massachusetts SMART program adders for solar-paired storage can be combined with ConnectedSolutions, though SMART is now closed to new applicants in some service territories. Connecticut's Residential Solar Investment Program (RSIP) closed in 2022, but storage incentives remain. Rhode Island has the smaller Renewable Energy Growth program for new solar but no separate state battery rebate beyond ConnectedSolutions itself [7].

If you are considering a battery in a non-ConnectedSolutions state, look at California's SGIP (especially the equity tiers for medical baseline and disadvantaged communities), New York's NY-Sun and the new Distributed Solar Roadmap, and Maryland's Energy Storage Income Tax Credit. None of these match ConnectedSolutions on annual recurring income, but they can match or exceed it on upfront dollars. Compare your address against the EnergyScout incentive database to see every program you are eligible for.

The Three Most Common Gotchas

First, battery degradation from frequent dispatch is real but small. Most homeowners worry about this and most data does not justify the worry. Tesla's published guidance is that ConnectedSolutions-style cycling adds roughly 20–40 additional cycles per year on top of normal solar self-consumption, which is well within the warranty's energy-throughput envelope (Powerwall 3 carries an unlimited-cycles warranty for 10 years subject to 70% retained capacity). Enphase batteries similarly carry a 15-year, 7,300-cycle warranty that is not voided by demand-response programs. Still, read the warranty section of your contract and ask your installer to confirm in writing that ConnectedSolutions enrollment is supported.

Second, if you go off-grid temporarily during a long outage, you do not earn payments for any dispatches you missed. The program rewards average dispatch performance across the season, so missing two events because the battery was running your house for two days is fine; missing twenty because you reserved 100% backup capacity all summer means lower payments. The sweet spot for most homeowners is a 20–30% backup reserve.

Third, the dispatch payments are taxable income. The utility issues a 1099-MISC for any annual payment over $600, and the IRS treats it as ordinary income, not as a clean energy credit. Most homeowners are still net positive even after taxes, but this matters for tax planning, especially if you are also filing a Section 48E lease pass-through.

A related question we hear constantly: can renters or condo owners enroll? Generally no — the battery must be installed at a single-family or owner-occupied multifamily address, and the homeowner of record must be the utility account holder. Community solar subscribers are not eligible. There is an active conversation in the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities about expanding to commercial and multifamily storage in 2027, but for 2026 this remains a homeowner-only program.

A Realistic 2026 Payback Example

A Massachusetts homeowner installing a 13.5 kWh Powerwall 3 in May 2026 might pay roughly $13,500 net of installation. With a Section 48E lease structure, the lessor passes through the 30% credit and the homeowner's net upfront cost can drop to about $9,500 [5]. Annual ConnectedSolutions earnings of $1,400–$1,600 plus $250–$400 in seasonal time-of-use bill savings put the simple payback in the 5- to 7-year range, with the battery still under warranty for at least three more years after that. That is among the strongest battery economics anywhere in the country, and the main reason ConnectedSolutions enrollment in MA/RI more than doubled between 2023 and 2025 [2].

Your Next Step

If your home is in Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island, ConnectedSolutions should be the first conversation in any battery purchase, not the last. Confirm your utility, model the dispatch math against your actual battery size, and ask any installer in writing whether they handle the enrollment paperwork or expect you to do it. To compare batteries side by side and see your home's specific incentive stack, start with the EnergyScout battery calculator and check the incentive search by zip code before you sign any contract.

Sources

1. "ConnectedSolutions Program Overview," Mass Save and National Grid. https://www.masssave.com/saving/business-rebates/connected-solutions
2. "ConnectedSolutions: A Replicable Model for Cost-Effective Distributed Energy Resources," Acadia Center, 2024. https://acadiacenter.org/document/connectedsolutions-a-replicable-model/
3. "Battery Storage Program," Rhode Island Energy. https://www.rienergy.com/RI-Home/Energy-Saving-Programs/Battery-Storage
4. "Energy Storage Solutions," Connecticut Green Bank. https://energystoragect.com
5. "Clean Electricity Investment Credit (Section 48E)," Internal Revenue Service. https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/clean-electricity-investment-credit
6. "Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D)," Internal Revenue Service. https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit
7. Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE). https://www.dsireusa.org
8. "2024 Massachusetts ConnectedSolutions Annual Report," Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. https://www.mass.gov/info-details/department-of-public-utilities-orders-and-decisions
9. Tesla Powerwall 3 Warranty (US, Residential), Tesla, Inc. https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/powerwall/learn/warranty
10. "Behind-the-Meter Battery Storage: 2025 Cost and Performance Data," National Renewable Energy Laboratory. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy25osti/91006.pdf