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A Bainbridge couple had been thinking about battery storage for years. When they built their home on the island in 2014 they installed a generator — and it has come in handy during multiple Bainbridge power outages. But it was never quite the right solution. "We don't love it," says one of the homeowners, "because it runs on fossil fuels and it is LOUD AS HECK."
What finally pushed them to act was PSE's Flex Batteries program — and one detail in particular. After reaching out to PSE's energy advisors, they learned that their neighborhood qualifies as a high outage-rate area, which made them eligible for up to $5,000 off a qualifying battery system on top of the standard Flex Batteries incentives. That changed the math.
They had a FranklinWH battery with 15 kWh of capacity installed last month by A&R Solar (a Seattle-based, employee-owned B Corporation). The system integrates seamlessly with their existing solar panels — charging from solar when production exceeds household demand, from the grid when needed, and even from their generator during extended outages if necessary. The total cost came to about $18,000 after the high-outage-area discount, with an additional $2,000–$4,000 expected back over time through PSE's annual Flex Batteries enrollment payments.
The process — from initial assessment in January to installation a few months later — took about four months in total. The A&R Solar team worked with the homeowners to find the right location for the battery and gateway, and there were no surprises. Now they're waiting on their final inspection, but the FranklinWH app is already a hit. "It's really fun to look at," says the homeowner. "It shows us exactly how energy is coming in and going out."
Would they recommend it to a neighbor on the fence? "This was a pretty straightforward process. Batteries are still in the realm of too expensive — but the prices have come way down. The main impetus for us is that we saved about 25 to 30 percent of the cost because of our location and the Flex Batteries program, which put it in the range of feasible."
LEARN MORE ABOUT PSE FLEX BATTERIES
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