Screening-level decision report · Sample
Is battery storage worth it for this facility?
Cardinal Cold Storage · 60,000 sq ft refrigerated warehouse · Columbus, OH area
Method Arbivolt independent value-stacking model
Status Illustrative sample | fictional facility | representative tariff
That is the whole point. This report can tell you things an installer cannot, because we have nothing to sell you but the analysis.
01 / The verdict
Install, conditional on confirming the load with interval data.
The case rests almost entirely on demand-charge reduction, which is the largest and most reliable lever for a steady, peaky load like refrigeration. The conservative floor pays back inside the system life. Confirm the peak shape with interval data before committing capital.
Stacked annual value
$24,700-46,000
conservative to base
Simple payback
3.8-7.1 yrs
net of 30% federal credit
Recommended size
150 kW / 600 kWh
4-hour, screening estimate
Where the money is: shaving the daily peak
representative 24-hour load, kW
── Load after battery (~336 kW)
█ Peak the battery covers = the value
Your energy profile
What your own bill is telling us
Cardinal runs refrigeration around the clock, so the load never really rests. It sits on a high, steady base and climbs to a sharp afternoon peak when compressors fight the warmest part of the day. That shape is the friendliest shape there is for storage, because a battery earns its keep by trimming short, predictable peaks.
Demand charges ~$100,800/yr · about 34% of the total
Energy charges ~$192,200/yr · blended ~$0.11/kWh, time-of-use
Billed peak demand ~420 kW · demand rate ~$20/kW/month
More than a third of your bill is demand charges, billed on your single highest spike each month rather than on the energy you use. That is the part most owners never see clearly and the part a battery attacks directly. The rate schedule is time-of-use, which adds a second, smaller opportunity we cover below.
The stacked value model
Every layer, conservative and base, with the math shown
Storage rarely pays for itself on one revenue stream. It stacks several, and the honest version shows the thin layers as thin. We build the conservative case from only the layers we can defend, and treat the rest as upside to verify.
| Value layer | Conservative | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Demand charge reduction the lever the decision rests on | $20,160 | $30,240 |
| Time-of-use arbitrage | $4,500 | $10,700 |
| Resilience value | not counted | $5,000 |
| Grid services / VPP | excluded | upside |
| Stacked annual value | $24,700 | $45,900 |
Demand-charge reduction carries roughly 82% of the conservative value. That is the number to remember: if the peak shave underperforms, the whole case softens with it. Arbitrage is real here because the tariff has a time-of-use spread, but it is the smaller layer and we keep it modest. Grid-service revenue may exist in your territory and would be pure upside, but we leave it out of the floor until a program is confirmed.
Incentives and deadlines
The part installers tend to explain in their own favor
Standalone commercial battery storage qualifies for a 30% federal investment tax credit, claimed by the business that owns the system. On a $250,000 installed cost that credit is roughly $75,000, which is what brings the net cost to about $175,000 and the payback into the range on the cover.
You may have heard the credit is about to vanish. It is not. The 30% rate runs through 2033 and then steps down later in the decade. There is a safe-harbor timing consideration around mid-2026 worth raising with any installer, and component-sourcing rules now apply to projects starting in 2026, so ask the installer to confirm their equipment qualifies. Treat the timing as planning, not panic.
On this system ~$75,000 credit net cost ~$175,000
Runway 30% through 2033, then taper
Confirm safe-harbor timing + component sourcing with your installer
Incentive terms change. Confirm current rules before you rely on them.
Recommended size and configuration
Sized to your load, with no product named on purpose
For a peak this shape, a system around 150 kW of power and 600 kWh of energy, roughly a four-hour battery, fits the job. The afternoon peak runs several hours, so you need enough stored energy to hold the shave through the whole window, not just clip the very top. That four-hour ratio is what lets the battery cover the peak rather than run flat halfway through it.
We do not name a brand or model, and that is deliberate. The moment a report points you at a specific product, it has started selling hardware and stopped being neutral. Installed cost at current market rates lands around $250,000 before the credit, which is an industry estimate, not a quote. The one caution: do not let an installer oversize you for a peak that rarely occurs, and do not undersize below the shave target to hit a price.
The honest risks
What would make this not pencil. An installer cannot write this section.
Load is flatter than assumed. The whole case rests on a sharp, repeatable afternoon peak. If interval data shows a flatter load, the shave shrinks and the conservative floor drops. This is why the verdict is conditional on interval data.
Single-layer dependency. About 82% of the conservative value is one lever, demand-charge reduction. There is little cushion if that layer underperforms.
Interconnection delay or cost. A 150 kW system needs utility approval, and timelines and any required upgrades can move the economics. Get the interconnection path in writing early.
Rate-structure change. If the utility restructures and softens demand charges, the largest value layer erodes. Worth watching the rate case calendar.
Degradation over time. Capacity and round-trip efficiency drift down across the system life, so later-year savings run below year one.
What to do next
Walk into any installer meeting with this page
The verdict is favorable, so the next step is to confirm the load with interval data and take competitive bids. Here is what to demand from any installer, and the bid tricks that signal a rigged number.
Demand interval-based load analysis, not a guess from your monthly bill. The shave estimate has to come from real 15-minute data.
Require line-item pricing that separates hardware from installation, so you can compare bids honestly.
Ask for the assumptions behind their savings number. Make them show the demand-charge math the way this report does.
Get the interconnection plan in writing, including timeline and any utility upgrades.
Bid red flags: a single savings figure with no math behind it; a calculator that always says yes; refusal to show the demand-charge assumption; and pressure to sign now over a deadline that, as you saw in section four, is not actually a cliff.
Common questions
How accurate is a screening report compared with a full engineering study?
It is directional, not final. A screening report tells you whether storage is worth a detailed study, using your billing data and conservative assumptions. The engineering study uses 15-minute interval data and a dispatch simulation to confirm the size and the savings before you sign.
Why does this report not recommend a specific battery?
Because the moment we name a product, we are selling hardware and we lose the right to call this neutral. We size the system and tell you what to demand from installers. Choosing the brand is their bid to win, on your terms.
How do demand charges actually create the savings?
Your utility bills a large part of your charges on your single highest power spike each month, measured in kilowatts, not on total energy used. A battery discharges during that spike so the meter never sees the full peak, which directly lowers the charge.
Does the tax credit really expire soon?
No. The 30% credit for standalone commercial storage runs through 2033 and then steps down later in the decade. There is a safe-harbor timing detail worth confirming, but there is no near-term cliff to panic over.
What does it cost to have storage properly engineered after this report?
That varies by installer and system, and it is usually folded into the project proposal. The point of this report is to make sure that engineering spend is aimed at a project that already pencils, before you commit to it.
Get your facility’s own report
Before an installer tells you yes, find out if the answer is actually yes.
Every battery vendor runs a calculator that always lands on buy now. Of course it does. They sell batteries. We sell you the straight answer, built from your own bill, with no hardware to move and no referral fee changing the math.
Request your Storage Decision Report
P.S. If storage does not pencil for your facility, this report will tell you that plainly and save you a six-figure mistake. That is the one thing the installer’s calculator will never do.
About this sample. Cardinal Cold Storage is a fictional facility on a representative demand-heavy commercial tariff. All figures are illustrative and exist to show the format and method of a Storage Decision Report.