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Below is information from the New York State 6 GW Residential and Retail Storage Programs webinar held earlier this week.  

The “2024 Energy Storage order established a goal of deploying 1,500 megawatts of retail energy storage and 200 MW of residential energy storage by 2030.” In February 2025, the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) approved the Residential-Retail Storage Implementation Plan with modifications. On March 11, 2025, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) filed an updated Residential-Retail Implementation Plan. This plan included the modifications approved by the NYPSC in The February. See:  2024 Energy Storage Overview.

New Residential and Retail Program Authorized by the June 2024 Storage Order:

• 1,500 MW of new retail storage ($675.0 million); 
• 200 MW of new residential storage ($100.0 million); 
• At least 35% of on-site retail projects must be sited in NYISO’s G-K Capacity Zones with at least 30% of total procurements in Zone J (NYC). 

MWh Block Program Structure 

• Both Residential and Retail Storage Incentive Programs are based on the MWh block structure, similar to the MW block structure used in NY-Sun. • Incentive applications will be submitted through NYSERDA’s application portal and monitored on the online dashboard 
• The program consists of a series of capacity-based funding blocks each associated with a specific market segment, geography, incentive rate, and allocable capacity. 

Eligible Technologies Residential and Retail 

• All systems must be grid-connected. 
• New systems must be permanent and stationary. 
• Equipment must be commercially available. 
• Lithium-ion systems must have round-trip efficiency of at least 70% during the project life. 
• Projects must be placed in service by 12/31/30. 

Residential: Project Eligibility 

• The system must be grid connected and behind the customer’s electric meter. 
• The system must enroll in the Dynamic Load Management. 
• The system must be listed to specific UL/CAN standards. 
• Must interconnect though the Standardized Interconnection Requirements and received required local permits. 

Residential: MWh Block Design (Market-Rate) 

• 3 regional blocks 
  • Long Island (available for storage paired with solar PV and will continue to be administered through NY-Sun) 
  • Con Edison (new) o Rest of the State 
• The maximum award per project is capped at 25kWh of project capacity and larger projects will have their incentive capped at 25kWh. 

Residential: Quality, Standards, and Compliance 

• NYSERDA will introduce the Quality Energy Storage Installer program and designation in Q1 2026 to highlight builders with a proven track record of installing high quality system. 

Retail: Project Eligibility 

• Projects serving nonresidential demand- metered customers installed behind customer’s electric meter. 
• Project compensated under the VDER Value Stack tariff. 
• Projects serving nonresidential, non-demand metered customers paired with a solar PV system BTM. 
• Projects that pursue revenue through a Utility or NYISO aggregation or demand response program.

Projects are ineligible for an incentive if they: 

• Received utility permission to operate prior to apply for an incentive. 
• Projects that have executed a contract to participate in a Non-Wires Alternative or Non-Wires Solution project before or on 2/14/25. 
• Received a previous NYSERDA storage incentive. 
• Are owned by an IOU. 
• Are participating in NYSERDA Bulk Storage program or the NYSERDA Tier 1 program. 
• Projects awarded an IOU Dispatch Rights contract. 

Retail: Participating Contractor Application Requirements: 

• Contractors must provide 3 representative projects 
• Contractors already approved under the previous Retail Storage program do not need to reapply.

Retail: New York City Block Design 

• A minimum of 750 MW (50% of the retail program capacity) will be allocated to the New York City region to enable peaker displacements in NYISO Zone J. 
• If the number of valid applications submitted within the first three weeks of the program exceeds the capacity of Block 6, projects will be prioritized by the date of 100% utility interconnection and upgrade payment. The oldest projects submitted for Block 6 will be processed first, while newer projects will be allocated funds from Block 7. 

Retail: Inclusive Storage Incentive:

• The 2024 Storage Order mandates that at least 35% of on-site storage procurements be located within census tracts designed as disadvantage communities. 
• Based on this directive, the Retail program will allocate 60MW towards the Retail Inclusive Storage Incentive available statewide for eligible storage projects sited at eligible critical facilities located in DAC census frauds. 
• NYSERDA will allocate $11.25 million in funding for an initial statewide block (excluding Long Island) of 10MW/25 MWh at an incentive rate of $450/kWh. 
• A Request for Information (RFI) will be issued in March to gather additional stakeholder input for finalizing the Retail ISI design, with incentive launched planned in Q2 2025.

*The Program manual when updated will provide an extensive list of eligibility requirements for project inspection deliverables. 

Retail: Post- Milestone Activates and Incentive Payment 

• Projects must report generation data to the NYSERDA DER Integrated Data System. 

Peer review Milestone for non—NYC Projects 

• Contractor moving forward with the installations that deviate from the approved design and product specifications at Milestone 1 will bear financial risk for those changes. 

Stakeholder Resources 

• Residential Retail Storage Program Manual. 
• Energy Storage Value Stack Reference Guide and Calculator 
• Energy Storage Interconnection Guide and Standard Interconnection Requirements
• New York State Battery Energy Storage System Guidebook 
• New York City Siting Guide 
• Utility Hosting Capacity Maps 
• Financing options via the New York Green Bank 
• Tax Incentive and Customer Electric Rates Reference Guides 

Retail Storage- New York Green Bank Support 

• NY Green Bank supports bridging financing gaps for commercial storage projects. 
• Eligible technologies include storage or hybrid systems. 

Timeline

• March 11th – Updated Implementation Plan filed. 
• March- Filing of updated program manual and other contractor guidance documents. Email notification to mailing list subscribers announcing the program launch dates, and contractor application availability. 
• March- April- Inclusive storage incentive RFI and feedback window. 
• April- May- Program launch for market- rate incentives. 
• May- June- Launch of inclusive storage incentives.