Pay-as-you-go batteries: ‘One weird trick’ for the distribution grid?

Home batteries are showing up as a subscription instead of a big purchase. A handful of companies now let homeowners get a battery for backup power, and sometimes for lower electric rates, with little or nothing paid up front and a monthly fee instead. In Texas, Base Power charges a one-time fee of a few hundred dollars (sometimes waived) plus $19 to $29 a month for a backup-only battery it owns and maintains for 10 years. Its combined energy-and-backup plan runs $700 to $1,000 up front, under $30 a month, and an energy rate under 14 cents per kilowatt-hour, locked in for three years. Palmetto offers a similar Texas plan expected to cost $25 to $50 a month after rebates.

Illinois has its own version: Base's plan there has a $95 installation fee and on-peak power priced at least 25 percent below what Commonwealth Edison charges. In Massachusetts, Haven Energy is offering batteries to National Grid and Eversource customers in four counties, with a few-hundred-dollar setup fee and a $29 monthly charge in some areas, tied to a state program called ConnectedSolutions+ that pays for flexible power capacity on stressed local grids.

Pricing varies a lot by state and utility, and depends on local rules for crediting solar and connecting batteries to the grid. If you already have solar panels, adding one of these batteries can let you keep using your own solar power during an outage. Checking what your own utility and state offer is the only way to know if a plan like this makes sense for your house.