What a commercial battery can actually claim in 2026.
The stack has one national layer and a patchwork of state and utility layers. It changes by state line, by who owns the system, and by what the building is used for. KEEL verifies every line against the program documents in force on the day a project is priced. This page is the map; the guides below are the detail.
The four layers
| Layer | What it is worth | Who gets it | Condition that matters most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal investment tax credit (§48E) | 30%+ of eligible cost: a 30% base plus 10 points for domestic content; prevailing-wage rules apply at 1 MW AC and above | The owner: the property under a capital lease, the funding partner under an operating lease, paid in cash to tax-exempt owners | Under 1 MW AC keeps it simple: no prevailing-wage or domestic-content haircut on direct pay |
| Accelerated depreciation | Often worth as much again as the credit to a taxable owner | The owner | Capital lease or purchase; not available to tax-exempt owners |
| State and utility storage programs | Per-kWh or per-kW payments where they exist; New York's blocks run $75 to $350 per kWh by territory and facility type (Sep 2026) | The project, at milestones | An enrolled contractor, an application filed before the block fills, and program-specific eligibility |
| Demand response | Utility and grid-operator payments for committed summer load reduction; $5 to $25 per kW-month in most territories, higher in New York City | The property, as annual income | 4-hour dispatch capability; enrollment each spring |
Federal terms per §48E as amended in 2025. State figures are examples as read on their program dashboards in September 2026 and are re-verified when a project is priced.
State and utility programs KEEL prices most often
Programs open, fill and step down without much notice, so KEEL reads the live dashboard the day a project is priced rather than quoting a rate from a page. The states below are where KEEL has verified tariff and program data loaded today, each with its own page under Markets; anywhere else, the project is priced on the federal credit, the demand charge and demand response.
- New York. The deepest layer in the country: NYSERDA's per-kWh retail storage blocks by utility territory, a $350/kWh critical-facility block for nonprofit and public sites in disadvantaged communities, Con Edison and NYISO demand response, and Local Law 97 deductions in New York City. Read the New York guide and the New York Service Area.
- Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Utility-run ConnectedSolutions payments of $200 and $275 per kW-summer for storage dispatch, on top of some of the highest commercial demand charges outside New York. Massachusetts · Rhode Island
- Maine. Efficiency Maine pays $200 per kW a year for five years on verified summer dispatch, alongside evening on-peak demand charges up to $48.51 per kW. Maine
- Illinois. ComEd's $250 per kWh rebate for storage paired with solar, plus PJM capacity and transmission tags. Illinois
- New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington, DC. Few or no state storage incentives yet, but PJM capacity at the cap, transmission tags worth up to $170 per kW-year, and demand-based tariffs that let a well-sized battery pencil on the federal credit alone. New Jersey · Pennsylvania · Maryland · Washington, DC
- Georgia. No state incentive and base rates frozen through 2028; the battery earns on the rate schedule, including hourly price response on real-time pricing. Georgia
What is not in the stack
Two things owners often expect and should not count on. The federal energy-community adder applies only in specific census tracts and the federal low-income bonus does not apply to storage at all. Sales-tax treatment of commercial storage varies by state and is often not exempt.
Read the detail
Three guides that go a level deeper than this map.
Federal Tax Credit for Storage
The 30%+ credit, who owns it under each lease, the domestic-content adder, and direct pay for churches, schools and nonprofits.
Read the guide →New York: NYSERDA Storage Incentive
Block rates by territory, the critical-facility block, the contractor gate, timing and the disadvantaged-community lookup.
Read the guide →Lease vs. Buy
How the credit and any state incentive land in a capital lease, an operating lease and a cash purchase, with a worked example.
Worked comparison →Common questions
Can a state incentive and the federal credit both apply?
Yes. A state or utility incentive is typically paid to the project at milestones and reduces the cost the lease carries. The federal credit is claimed by the owner on the eligible basis. KEEL applies both in the pricing model and shows each on its own line with its source.
Which states have the best storage incentives?
It changes every quarter as program budgets fill. As of late 2026 the strongest layers for commercial storage KEEL prices are in New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine, with a paired-solar rebate in Illinois. High demand charges and PJM tags matter as much as incentives: a building in Georgia, Pennsylvania or New Jersey with a sharp peak can pencil with the federal credit alone. See Markets for each state.
What if my state has no storage program?
Most projects KEEL prices outside the Northeast and California run on the federal credit, the demand charge and utility demand response, with no state layer. That is still a viable project when the bill has a real demand line.
Get the stack for your address.
Send a bill and the address. KEEL returns the incentive lines the site qualifies for, federal and state, with the source for each.