en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), in collaboration with the state's electric distribution companies (EDCs), has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for battery energy storage systems, targeting the procurement of 1,000 MW of medium-duration battery energy storage systems (BESS), with an additional procurement target of 250 MW to 300 MW for distribution-level projects.
The RFP was released on July 31, and the participating Massachusetts EDCs are all investor-owned utilities (IOUs), including Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil.
This is not the state's first large-scale energy storage procurement. In August 2025, the EDCs and DOER launched a BESS solicitation for approximately 1,500 MW; in December of that year, DOER completed bid evaluations and selected energy storage projects totaling 1,268 MW, with winning developers including FlatIron Energy, River Mill Storage, Rhynland Energy, and Jupiter Power.
In November 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed comprehensive energy legislation requiring the procurement of 5,000 MW of energy storage systems by July 31, 2030.
The RFP states that distribution companies will be responsible for negotiating and executing any final long-term contracts. For distribution-level projects, distribution companies will offer selected projects a standard, non-negotiable contract. DOER will have the opportunity to oversee contract negotiations between the distribution companies and selected bidders.
The procurement process is divided into three evaluation phases. The first phase verifies whether bid proposals meet eligibility and threshold requirements; the second phase evaluates proposals against specified quantitative and qualitative criteria; and the third phase involves an in-depth analysis by the evaluation team, combining the second-phase criteria with other discretionary considerations, to identify viable projects that can deliver cost-effective, reliable energy storage charging and discharging services with limited risk.
Confidential and public bid proposals must be submitted by September 9. Projects will then be selected, negotiations will begin on January 27, long-term contracts and memoranda of understanding will be signed on April 28, and long-term contracts will be submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) for approval on May 26.
In July of this year, Eversource and National Grid announced partnerships with distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) platform provider EnergyHub, Sunrun's grid services division, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) platform provider The Mobility House to integrate V2G technology into the ConnectedSolutions virtual power plant (VPP). ConnectedSolutions operates in states across the northeastern United States, including Massachusetts, where the V2G integration will be implemented. The virtual power plant leverages flexible capacity from thermostats, BESS, and commercial and industrial resources to alleviate grid stress across five states, coordinating more than 280,000 distributed energy resources (DERs) and over 800 MW of flexible capacity.
