Powertown Plans $6.9M Battery Network to Cut Brockton Businesses’ Power Bills

Massachusetts battery company Powertown plans to invest $6.9 million in Brockton by 2032, installing refrigerator-sized batteries at local businesses to cut their electricity bills, the company announced on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. The Brockton battery storage program starts with four businesses, and the first units will go in during early 2027. The long-term goal is 17 commercial and industrial sites plus six municipal buildings.

The Brockton battery storage deal at a glance

• Size: $6.9 million in planned investment by Powertown in Brockton, according to The Boston Globe.
• Timeline: first installations in early 2027; the full buildout runs through 2032.
• Scope: four businesses at launch, growing to 17 commercial and industrial sites and six city buildings.
• Projected impact: Powertown estimates $4.6 million in savings for businesses and $1.2 million in lower municipal energy costs over 10 years.
• Cost to businesses: none up front. Powertown pays for and installs the systems, takes a share of the savings, and is also paid by the utility when its batteries ease strain on the grid.

How the batteries cut demand charges

The program targets demand charges, a part of commercial electric bills based on a site’s single highest rate of power use each month, such as when large motors or ovens start at the same time. Utilities say the charges pay for a grid built to handle peak demand.

Powertown’s batteries charge when power is cheaper and discharge automatically during a site’s peak window, flattening the spike. On its product page, the company says one monthly spike, often just 15 minutes long, can make up 30% to 70% of a bill. It says customers typically save the equivalent of one to three months of bills a year after the split. Each unit is rated at 250 kilowatts and 522 kilowatt-hours, uses lithium iron phosphate cells, and runs on its own circuit, in parallel with the building’s power supply.

CEO Elson Bankoff told the Globe that Powertown is offering the first relatively small battery for commercial customers in Massachusetts, at 125 or 250 kilowatts. Most competing commercial systems are closer to the size of a shipping container. She said the smaller size speeds up permitting and installation.

Who is signing up in Brockton

Crown Uniform and Linen Service, which has a processing plant in Brockton, plans to install the batteries. Joe Mulvey, its director of operations, told the Globe the company expects to cut its electricity bill by about $30,000 a year.

The announcement came at a roundtable at Brockton’s historic Edison building. Eliza Wilson, the city’s economic development director, said Brockton is “the first city in Massachusetts to fully embrace this technology.” Powertown said it plans to expand to other Massachusetts cities, including Fall River and New Bedford. State Sen. Michael Brady, who represents Brockton, said he would consult experts on grants or legislation that could help more commercial properties adopt the technology.

Context: the state’s storage target and rising power costs

The project fits a broader state push to cut peak demand. The Healey administration has set a target of 5 gigawatts of energy storage and 3.5 gigawatts of demand reduction by the end of 2035. Through the Mass Save ConnectedSolutions program, battery owners earn incentives for sharing stored power during peaks. An Eversource spokesperson told the Globe that more than 2,500 residential customers and seven commercial and industrial customers, with 13.5 megawatts of battery capacity, are enrolled.

Battery projects have also met resistance. Some residents worry about fires, and grid connection costs have risen. In September, developers withdrew a proposed 125-megawatt battery system in Tewksbury, citing interconnection costs. Powertown said it has briefed the Fire Prevention Association of Massachusetts and is building an alert that notifies fire marshals if a battery shows warning signs.

Living costs are rising across the region. The Consumer Price Index for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area was up about 3.8% in September 2026 from a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data on FRED. For households, see our guide to Boston heating rules and fuel assistance. More local company news is in our Boston business and economy section.

Larry Chretien, executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, told the Globe the batteries are “a winner economically for the Commonwealth” and likely for emissions as well, since they can reduce the use of gas- and oil-fired peaker plants.

Sources

• The Boston Globe: Brockton businesses are installing fridge-sized batteries to slash electricity bills
• Powertown: Powerblock technical specifications and FAQ
• Mass Save: ConnectedSolutions battery program
• FRED / BLS: Consumer Price Index, Boston-Cambridge-Newton (CUURA103SA0)

Photo: Legion Parkway in downtown Brockton, Mass., by Tyoung0543, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).