Every Electric Pays NYC Residents to Run ACs on Free Batteries

A New York City startup called Every Electric is loaning home batteries to residents so they can keep running window air conditioners during summer demand-response events instead of switching them off, according to a first-person account published by Ars Technica. About 1,000 New York City households have joined the program so far, the outlet reported.

How does the battery program work?

Customers get one or more batteries shipped to their home. The batteries plug into a standard wall outlet, and window air conditioners plug into the batteries. During peak demand periods set by utility Con Edison, the batteries — not the grid — power the air conditioner, according to Ars Technica's account of the setup. The Ars Technica writer, who tested the system during a heat dome that pushed daytime temperatures into the triple digits, said the batteries let the household run air conditioners continuously through the event rather than precooling the apartment and shutting units off during peak hours, as the family had done in prior summers.

What does it cost to join?

Every Electric does not sell the batteries to most participants. Instead, the company requires a refundable deposit, which it has lowered from $50 to $30 per battery, Ars Technica reported. The deposit is returned if a household sends the batteries back. Households that want to keep their batteries permanently can buy them outright for $650 each, according to the report.

Every Electric by the numbers

• ~1,000 New York City households enrolled in the free battery program
• $30 current refundable deposit per battery, down from $50
• $650 purchase price per battery for households that want to keep theirs
• 2023 year the company launched under its original name

Who runs Every Electric and how did it start?

The company was co-founded by Andrew Wang and Richard May, who met while working as postdoctoral researchers at the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center at Columbia University, Ars Technica reported. They launched the business in 2023 under the name Standard Potential Co., initially aiming to commercialize sodium-ion battery chemistry. The founders later shifted their business model toward deploying residential batteries across New York City homes to build what the industry calls a virtual power plant — a network of distributed storage devices that utilities can call on to manage grid demand. The company rebranded as Every Electric in 2026, according to the report.

Wang, the company's co-founder and chief executive, described the goal of the program in terms of comfort rather than sacrifice. "Being able to make air conditioners drop off the grid without actually impacting the comfort of residents was really awesome to see," Wang told Ars Technica.

How does this connect to Con Edison's demand response payments?

New York households have long had the option to enroll in demand response programs run through utility companies such as Con Edison, which pay customers for reducing electricity use on the hottest days, Ars Technica reported. Historically, that has meant residents precool their homes and then switch off air conditioners for a set window, tolerating heat during the event. Every Electric's batteries are designed to let households collect those same demand-response payments from Con Edison while the air conditioner keeps running on stored battery power instead of grid electricity, according to the account.

What has the experience been like for participants?

The Ars Technica writer reported installing two of the company's batteries — tucked into corners of a living room and bedroom — and running window units through an extended heat event without the usual tradeoff of discomfort during peak hours. The report also noted that household pets have taken an interest in the equipment: a photograph accompanying the Ars Technica piece shows a cat named Abby standing on top of one of the Bluetti-brand batteries used in the program.

Ers Technica's account is a single household's experience with the program and does not detail Every Electric's broader customer base, waitlist, or expansion plans beyond the roughly 1,000 households it has already signed up in New York City. The report did not include additional financial detail, such as per-event demand-response payment amounts from Con Edison, battery capacity specifications, or the company's funding history.

For now, the program remains concentrated in New York City, tied to Con Edison's demand-response structure and the company's refundable-deposit model for lending out the Bluetti-made batteries central to the setup.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.