PAXTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paxton Municipal Light Department (PMLD) and Lightshift Energy, a leading energy storage project developer, owner and operator, on Thursday hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the battery storage project in Paxton, Massachusetts, which will bolster the grid for PMLD and its customers. Part of a first-of-a-kind program to deploy battery storage for Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC)’s municipal utilities, the energy storage project will reduce grid load during peak events, saving PMLD up to $10 million in energy costs and lessening the Commonwealth’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Solidifying Massachusetts as a leader in the nation's clean energy deployment, representatives from across the state, including State Senator Peter Durant and Chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, James Van Nostrand, participated in the press conference. The speakers celebrated how this 3 megawatt (MW)/9 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage project is a testament to the state’s growing stake in the clean energy economy and its broader commitment to bringing cleaner solutions to all communities.
“For smaller utilities such as Paxton Municipal Light Department, early adoption of new technologies can be cost prohibitive,” said Tara Rondeau, General Manager at PMLD. “Thanks to MMWEC’s efforts in establishing a partnership with Lightshift, PMLD is able to utilize battery storage. This will help offset rising capacity and transmission costs for our ratepayers while focusing on cleaner solutions.”
A small community nestled outside of Worcester, Paxton is one of the first municipal utilities to participate in the partnership between Lightshift and MMWEC to deploy a fleet of energy storage projects across the state. First announced in May 2024, the program is expected to provide more than $200 million in energy savings across MMWEC’s municipal utilities, while bringing grid resilience to communities and helping the state meet its ambitious renewable energy goals.
“Anytime we can combine savings for our local communities with the possibility of cleaner energy, that’s a win,” said State Sen. Peter Durant, R-Spencer. “Projects like this are often too expensive for smaller communities, so we appreciate partnerships like the one between Paxton Municipal Light Department and the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company that make it possible for those towns to acquire newer technology.”
“Paxton is an excellent example of how smaller communities can have a large impact on the clean energy ecosystem, all while providing significant electricity bill savings to ratepayers,” said Lightshift Co-Founder and Managing Partner Rory Jones. “Grid demand is rapidly straining local energy resilience, and this project will serve as an economic and energy anchor for Paxton. We’re encouraged to see municipal utilities across the state continue to bolster grid reliability while contributing to a clean energy future.”
About Lightshift Energy
Lightshift Energy is a utility-scale energy storage project developer, owner and operator headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 2019, Lightshift is developing a diverse, multi-gigawatt pipeline of energy storage projects, located throughout the U.S. With leading energy storage analytics, application design, finance, and development expertise, Lightshift deploys dynamic, multi-use energy storage projects that maximize value for utilities and other partners, while reinvesting directly into the communities where their projects are located. For more information, please visit www.lightshift.com.
About Paxton Municipal Light Department
Paxton Municipal Light Department (PMLD) was established in 1914 and serves just under 2,000 customers in Paxton, Massachusetts. As one of 40 municipal utilities in Massachusetts, PMLD is owned by the community it serves. It prides itself on providing safe, reliable and superior service at the lowest cost.
About the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC)
MMWEC is the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities in Massachusetts. Through its enabling state legislation, Chapter 775 of the Acts of 1975, MMWEC became a not-for-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MMWEC’s enabling legislation gave it the unique power to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance electric generating facilities and other projects. Using this statutory authority, MMWEC has issued more than $7 billion in bonds since 1976. It is the largest provider of asset-owned generation for municipal light departments in New England.
