Seems like they supply each person with 2 Tesla powerwalls for the $55/month and get a reduction in their bills that depends on how much power they choose to share to the grid during power outages.
They've already closed down 2 peaker power plants because of this, so it doesn't seem to just be about handling power outages, but also handling fluctuating power usage instead of firing up extra power plants.
Lithium is not the way to go for home batteries. As size/weight are not an issue for a basement or shed install, oldschool lead-acid are much cheaper and can be easily recycled once at end of life.
Those tesla wall packs will be a massive headache when they give up the ghost. Read the contract carefully. Who is responsable for end-of-life disposal? Where/how are they to be disposed of? Lead acids can be taken to any number of recycling centers, some will even pay you for them.
hettygreen · · focus · HN ↗
<a href="https://electrek.co/2026/07/28/vermonts-largest-energy-source-is-now-a-virtual-power-plant/" rel="nofollow">https://electrek.co/2026/07/28/vermonts-largest-energy-sourc...
Seems like they supply each person with 2 Tesla powerwalls for the $55/month and get a reduction in their bills that depends on how much power they choose to share to the grid during power outages.
They've already closed down 2 peaker power plants because of this, so it doesn't seem to just be about handling power outages, but also handling fluctuating power usage instead of firing up extra power plants.
sandworm101 · · focus · HN ↗
Those tesla wall packs will be a massive headache when they give up the ghost. Read the contract carefully. Who is responsable for end-of-life disposal? Where/how are they to be disposed of? Lead acids can be taken to any number of recycling centers, some will even pay you for them.
leonidasrup · · focus · HN ↗
<a href="https://www.whalebattery.com/blog-detail/lead-acid-vs-lithium-battery" rel="nofollow">https://www.whalebattery.com/blog-detail/lead-acid-vs-lithiu...
Cost per kWh per year:
lead-acid batteries: $100 per kWh per year
LFP batteries: $50 per kWh per year
<a href="https://www.justplugsolar.com/blog/lithium-vs-lead-acid-batteries-cost-comparison" rel="nofollow">https://www.justplugsolar.com/blog/lithium-vs-lead-acid-batt...
US is outsourcing recycling of Lead acids to Africa.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/18/world/africa/lead-poisoning-car-battery.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/18/world/africa/...
emilecantin · · focus · HN ↗