Vermont utility adds Enphase battery option to home program
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- Green Mountain Power expanded its Energy Storage Solutions Program to offer Enphase's fourth-generation IQ Battery alongside the existing Tesla Powerwall, framing the addition as a response to customers who object to Musk's politics.
- GMP set pricing at $55 per month added to the customer's electric bill, or a single incentivized payment of $5,500, for either an Enphase or Tesla battery lease.
- The lease structure preserves access to the 30% federal solar tax credit through US Code § 48E (the Clean Electricity Investment Credit), a commercial credit that still covers leased battery systems even after the residential Section 25D credit expired in fall 2024.
- Enphase IQ Batteries ship with a 15-year factory warranty with 5 additional years of extended coverage available, and at lease end GMP removes the units for a "second life" deployment elsewhere.
- Mari McClure, GMP's president and CEO, said the expansion is meant to "strengthen the grid" and deliver "true energy independence and resilience" amid increasingly severe storms.
- Alexander Mintz, owner of GMP-certified installer Power Guru, cited Enphase's 20-plus years in business as a factor in the partnership.
Why it matters: GMP is giving customers a politically palatable way to add home backup power at $55/month while the §48E commercial credit keeps the 30% federal tax credit available to lessors — a financing edge that direct residential buyers lost when Section 25D expired. For Enphase, it lands a foothold in one of the country's most-watched virtual power plant programs; for Tesla, it confirms that Musk's public profile is now a measurable sales friction in at least one utility territory.
