Staff Report Item 13
To: Ava Community Energy Authority
From: JP Ross, Vice President Local Development
Subject: Staff Report updating the Board on the launch of Ava’s SmartHome Battery Program
Date: February 18, 2026
__________________________________________________________________ Summary/Recommendation
This Staff Report updates the Board on the launch of Ava’s SmartHome Battery Program Financial Impact
N/A
Analysis and Context
Ava has allocated $15M to the SmartHome Battery and Resilience Hub initiative. The Board approved the Program Design and Budget at the November 2025 Board meeting. Staff will provide an update on the launch timing and activities of the SmartHome Battery program.
Attachments
A. Presentation: SmartHome Battery Pre-Launch Update
SmartHome Battery
& Resilience
Hubs Updates
February 2026
JP Ross, VP Local Development
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Agenda
2 • Program Overview
• Launch Timing
• Installer and Customer Engagement
• Ava’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP)
• Resilience Hubs
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Program Goal
● Deploy $15M in upfront and ongoing incentives that
support community resilience, adding up to 21MW of
dependable powered batteries to our community Virtual
Power Plant (VPP).
Program Audiences
● Residential Customers – SmartHome Battery
Income qualified (CARE/FERA)
General Market
● Resilience Hubs
Program Learnings
● Enhance our understanding of how to reliably manage
and grow battery aggregations
● Understand what is needed to deploy Community
Resilience Hubs
Program Goals, Audience and Learning
3 Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
SmartHomeBattery + Resilience Hubs Launch Timing
4 SmartHome Battery (Residential Customers)
• March 2026: Program opens for newly installed solar
and battery systems
• April 2026: Program opens for customers
with existing solar and battery storage systems
• Q2/3 2026: Program opens for customers whose
batteries are owned by aggregators pending
aggregator execution of a participation agreement
with Ava.
Resilience Hubs
• January 2026 onward: Resilience hub recruitment for
Technical Assistance
• Q2: Technical Assistance available for Resilience
Hubs
• 2H 2026: Targeting Resilience Hub Incentive launch
2025
Resilience Hub
Education and
Awareness Grant
March ‘26
Residential Launch
Q2 26
Resilience Hub
Technical
Assistance Launch
SHB Aggregator
launch*
2H 2026
Resilience Hub
Incentive Launch
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Ava is engaging with installers to both raise
awareness and support installers to learn how to
enroll customers in SmartHome Battery.
Activities include:
• Virtual Installer Informational Webinar (January
30)
• In-person Installer Training 1 in Oakland (February
25)
• Two in person additional installer trainings
(Forthcoming in 2026, across service area)
• Engagement with California Solar and Storage
Association (CALSSA)
SmartHomeBatteryInstaller and Customer Engagement
5 Installer Engagement Customer Engagement
Ava will announce SmartHome Battery launch
across our owned channels and across key
stakeholders. Installers will be the main channel.
Activities include:
• Posts on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and
LinkedIn
• Inclusion in Direct Current Newsletter and CEO's
Desk Newsletter
• Social/email content to share with Munipals
• Inclusion in the community -based organization
newsletter
• Press Release
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Solar and Storage as a Part of Ava’s VPP
Ava’s DERMS allows us to leverage distributed energy resources (DERs) to reduce our carbon footprint and support customer savings from DERs by aggregating these technologies and optimizing them to operate in concert. This is known as a “virtual power plant” (VPP).
Residential solar/battery projects will be part of Ava’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP). 6 *
*Eight CMF projects not
eligible for incentives
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Ava's Virtual Power Plant
7 • Ava is working to add as many options as
possible for customers to choose
equipment.
• Initially Resilience Hubs will not be
required to enroll in Ava's VPP based on
lack of participation from commercial
battery and inverter OEMs
• The SmartHome Battery program will
launch with Tesla and Lunar batteries.
Agreements with several other OEMs are
underway and expected to be available
within a quarter of program launch.
• Integrating batteries with a DERMs
requires work from OEMs, can take up to
2 months, and requires extensive testing.
• Once operational maintaining battery
connectivity requires constant reporting.
*Ava's VPP and Resilience Hubs will not be Community Micro -Grids Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Community Resilience Hub Initiative Review
8 Objective: Unde rstand the unique needs of community sites and provide them with resources, technical assistance, and incentives to develop local Resilience Hubs.
Community Outreach and
Site Identification ($300k)
Underway:
✓ Case Studies
✓ Resilience Readiness Tool
✓ Held 3 workshops with >150
registered participants and 26
CBOs to gather feedback
q Will lead 3 Community outreach to
identify interested sites
✓ One session complete 1/26
Technical
Assistance ($2M)
Forthcoming Q2:
• Resilience project sizing and
feasibility assessment
• Contactor bid reviews
• Available grants and incentives
• Additional services as needed
include: site visits, technical
contract agreement review, EV
charging assessment
Incentives
($3.75M)
Forthcoming 2H 2026:
• Upfront incentive
• Waitlist for projects as they
install equipment
• Incentive payment
• Potential for Ongoing VPP
incentives with battery OEM
integrations
Attachment Staff Report Item 13A
Thank you!
AvaEnergy.org
+1 833.699.3223
customer [email protected]
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9 Attachment Staff Report Item 13A