Concord Light Plant Reviews Battery Pushback Policy, Postpones Solar PPA Executive Session

CARLISLE — July 8, 2026 — Concord Municipal Light Plant board reviews battery storage export policy and postpones a solar PPA executive session. The board, chaired by John Dalton, heard a detailed presentation from Director Jason Leon, Engineer Joe Repoff, and Laura Scott on why CMLP prohibits residential batteries from pushing power back onto the grid, citing a 2019 DPU regulation, transformer-sizing assumptions, and field safety concerns during outages — noting that all 37 installed or pending battery systems, totaling 485 kilowatts of capacity and 1,044 kilowatt hours of storage as of July 1, operate under the no-export rule. Board member Chris Schaffner called for a future discussion on enabling pushback for commercial customers, and Leon noted that CMLP has consulted with Belmont Light, which allows pushback and has encountered "unintended consequences" from rapid simultaneous discharge. The board voted unanimously to adjourn and reschedule an executive session that included discussion of a power purchase agreement for solar installation on the Concord Middle School roof; public commenter Dean Banfield warned that delay "loses us a possible construction month."