# The commercial battery comeback

- Show: [Catalyst](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst)
- Published: 2026-07-30
- Length: 44m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback

## Summary

Tim Hade, senior vice president at Voltus and founder of Brightfield Infrastructure, explains why commercial and industrial (C&I) battery storage has historically lagged behind residential and utility-scale markets due to unattractive economics and high transaction costs. He details how four revenue streams—time-of-use arbitrage, demand charge management, ancillary services, and capacity markets—are now making C&I storage viable, driven by rising electricity prices and grid constraints. Hade highlights that battery hardware costs have fallen by roughly 30-40% in 18 months, while AI-powered automation is projected to reduce transaction costs by up to 90%, making the business case compelling for commercial customers. Finally, he discusses how aggregating thousands of distributed batteries into virtual power plants (VPPs) enables hyperscalers to secure capacity for data centers through 'bring your own capacity' programs, accelerating adoption in constrained grids like PJM.

## Chapters

- [0:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=7) Introduction: The missing middle of energy storage
- [3:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=234) Historical context: Why CNI storage lagged behind residential and utility
- [8:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=535) The economic heuristic: 5-10% bill savings threshold
- [12:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=741) The four revenue streams: TOU, demand charges, ancillary services, and capacity
- [21:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=1286) Cost side: IRA tax credits and 30-40% hardware cost decline
- [31:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=1886) Soft costs: AI reducing transaction costs by 90%
- [39:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback#t=2373) Aggregation: Virtual power plants and hyperscaler 'bring your own capacity'

## Topics

- [Energy & climate tech](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/energy-and-climate-tech)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Voltus (company)
- Brightfield Infrastructure (company)
- Energy Impact Partners (company)
- SunPower (company)
- Powerlight (company)
- Next Tracker (company)
- STEM (company)
- Green Charge (company)
- AMS (company)
- Solectro (company)
- SunGrow (company)
- PJM (other)
- Ercot (other)
- Kaiso (other)
- California (other)
- SE (other)
- Alisto Canyon (other)
- IRA (other)
- OBB (other)

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## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/catalyst/2026-07-30-the-commercial-battery-comeback. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Catalyst.