SCENARIO
By late 2023, new battery technologies have lowered the cost of energy storage by as much as 70% (depending on the technology used) and the slowly growing number of batteries from recycled electric vehicles further reduces storage costs, both at utility and residential scale. This reduces the need for expensive gas peaker plants to cover uneven demand and creates more consistent energy price predictions. New ISO New England wind projects begin to break ground, and with the addition of cheap storage options, energy prices in 2025 are predicted to be 30% less per KwH. Additionally, it now becomes cheaper to heat homes using electricity than by using any other source, including natural gas. Most new construction plans no longer include natural gas heating. 

 

Electric vehicles are now at 12% of new car sales in the AWEDD, but because most of them are charged off-peak, they balance grid loads more than overload them. Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative Inc. creates a special task force to study the increase in fully electric vehicles and the impact on the grid and energy prices.