Commercial Battery-as-a-Service — Ontario first
Turn peak electricity demand from an unpredictable operating cost into a controllable, optimizable energy asset. Electron Zero develops behind-the-meter battery systems that shave peaks automatically, lower electricity costs with zero or minimal upfront capital where financing permits, and monetize grid flexibility.
69%*
Expected growth in North American peak electricity demand over the next decade.
~30% YoY*
Rise in Ontario electricity rates reported in recent market commentary.
40–70%*
Share of a monthly bill that demand-related charges can represent for some Ontario Class B customers — a single peak interval can move it.
Up to 50%*
Potential total bill reduction from properly structured behind-the-meter storage in suitable customer cases.
*Illustrative market figures; final published claims subject to source verification, tariff class, load profile, market rules, system sizing and financing.
The problem
In North America, peak electricity demand is expected to grow materially over the next decade while generation, transmission and distribution expansion struggle to keep pace. The result is growing capacity pressure on the grid — and retail electricity costs rising faster than many commercial operators can comfortably absorb.
Peak demand across North America is expected to grow materially over the next decade while generation, transmission and distribution expansion struggle to keep pace. Retail electricity costs are rising faster than many commercial operators can comfortably absorb.
Greenhouses, machine shops, warehouses, cold storage and other commercial facilities increasingly treat electricity management as mission-critical to the operation — not a back-office utility line.
Ontario commercial customers can face volatile bills and significant peak-related charges, where a single short-duration peak interval can materially affect the monthly bill.
Existing approaches often rely on manual load shedding or operational curtailment — forcing operators to choose between energy cost reduction and running the business normally.
Utility-scale and residential storage are scaling quickly, but the small-to-medium commercial segment remains an underserved middle — too large for residential products, too small for utility-scale developers.
Falling battery costs, improved controls software and expanding utility and grid-service programs now let a single asset combine customer bill savings with grid-service revenue.
Distributed energy resources are part of the answer — and behind-the-meter batteries stand out. They are fast to deploy, modular, controllable, and increasingly economic.
What peak shaving looks like
Illustrative facility day — 24h interval load
The model
A battery on the customer's side of the meter, owned by capital that wants contracted cash flows, operated by software that never sleeps — and paid for out of the value it creates. The customer gets lower electricity costs without a capital project, a curtailment program, or a new job to do.
What Electron Zero does
Electron Zero acts as developer, integrator and optimizer — not necessarily the sole balance-sheet owner of every asset.
What the customer gets
The value stack
Demand-charge avoidance — the core of the customer case.
Where tariffs and price spreads support it.
Where the customer and asset are eligible.
Where market access allows.
Avoided interruption, where relevant to the facility.
Not every project will access every revenue stream. Project economics depend on tariff, interval load shape, battery sizing, degradation, cycling strategy, market rules and financing.
Modular, containerized systems — sized to the load shape, deployed behind the meter, dispatched by software.
ROI estimator
Put the system cost and annual value streams on one cash-flow view. Enter your facility profile and finance assumptions to see a directional payback, NPV and IRR for a behind-the-meter battery. Like any calculator, it is a first-pass screen: the accurate answer lives in your interval data.
Baseline scenario
01 — Your facility
Tariff class (Ontario)
Demand and peak-related charges can represent 40–70% of some Ontario Class B bills. Adjust if you know yours.
The IESO Peak Demand Factor applies to Class A (ICI) participants — Class B customers are billed Global Adjustment volumetrically, so peak value here is modelled against demand-related charges.
02 — System cost
Suggested system: 175 kW / 442 kWh nameplate (2-hour duration).
Expected CAPEX reduction (e.g. program incentives), if any.
03 — Finance assumptions
Rising utility rates increase future savings.
First-pass investment case
3.3years discount-free payback
Net upfront CAPEX
$243,100
$243,100 gross − $0 incentive
NPV @ 8% / 15 yrs
$392,743
Year-one gross value
$76,888
peak value + programs + arbitrage
Internal rate of return
30.0%
Lifetime net benefit / 15 yrs
$870,531
undiscounted, after CAPEX
Lifetime ROI
458%
Year-one net cash flow
$74,457
after $2,431 O&M
BaaS customer benefit*
$23,066 – $38,444
Illustrative annual value stack
Assumptions used
*Illustrative planning estimate only — not a savings guarantee, offer, financing commitment or investment recommendation. Under a Battery-as-a-Service structure, Electron Zero and asset capital carry the CAPEX; the customer benefit is typically delivered as a net position after a predictable service payment. Tax treatment, dispatch constraints, demand ratchets, peak-prediction accuracy, augmentation and actual tariff rules can materially change the result.
Get an accurate assessment →Class A vs Class B — the ICI decision
Class B customers pay Global Adjustment as a volumetric rate on every MWh they consume. Class A (ICI) participants instead pay through their Peak Demand Factor — their share of Ontario demand during the five coincident peak hours. For a facility that can curtail those peaks with a battery, the difference between the two classes is the decision.
$34,337illustrative annual GA reduction vs today
Average demand ÷ peak demand; sets annual MWh for the Class B volumetric estimate.
Total provincial energy — used to derive the Class B volumetric GA rate from the same cost pool.
Estimated annual Global Adjustment
2,409 MWh/yr × $73/MWh
PDF 0.0017% × $10.0B GA costs
PDF falls to 0.0014%
Class B rate derived from the same system-wide GA cost pool ÷ Ontario annual consumption ($73/MWh). ICI eligibility, opt-in timing and base-period rules apply; actual class economics depend on verified interval data.
What the inputs model
Methodology
Peak-demand-factor mechanics per the IESO — Global Adjustment & Peak Demand Factor. All figures are illustrative planning estimates, not tariff quotes or savings guarantees.
Results are illustrative estimates for discussion purposes only. Actual savings vary by facility and depend on interval load data, tariff class and rate structures, market rules, system sizing and financing. For an assessment built on your real data, request a site evaluation.
Commercial structure
The structure adapts to the customer and the capital — from fully serviced Battery-as-a-Service to customer-owned systems we develop and optimize.
Capital flow
INFRASTRUCTURE
CAPITAL / PROJECT SPV
ELECTRON ZERO
DEV + INTEGRATION
BTM BATTERY
CUSTOMER SITE
EMS
OPTIMIZATION LAYER
SAVINGS + GRID
MARKET REVENUE
Contracted cash flows return to asset capital
A monthly service agreement with zero or minimal upfront customer capex — storage delivered as an operating service, not a capital project.
Verified electricity savings are split between the customer and the platform, aligning both sides on dispatch performance.
Structured payments tied to energy-management outcomes across the site or portfolio.
Infrastructure capital owns the asset within a project SPV; contracted cash flows service the capital structure.
The customer owns the system outright; Electron Zero develops, integrates and optimizes it.
Operating workflow
Identify facilities with material peak demand and suitable tariffs.
Read interval data and rate structures in detail.
Quantify savings and eligible grid-service revenue.
Design the system around the load shape and site.
Match the commercial model to the customer and capital.
Advance approvals and utility coordination.
Procure, install and commission with delivery partners.
Dispatch through the EMS and stack available revenue.
Target customers
The segments we design for are ideal customer profiles — not a representation of existing customers. What they share: material peak demand and favourable tariff and load characteristics.
High, climate-driven electrical loads with sharp coincident peaks.
Process loads that spike against production schedules.
Material demand charges and growing on-site electrification.
Continuous refrigeration with costly peak coincidence.
Repeated load profiles suited to standardized, portfolio-wide deployment.
Charging peaks that can outpace available service capacity.
Facilities with material peak demand and favourable tariff and load characteristics.
Strategic roadmap
Every site is designed from day one to operate as part of something larger. Individual batteries become a coordinated portfolio; the portfolio becomes a grid resource. That is how site-level savings compound into system-level value.
Automated peak shaving and bill savings at individual facilities.
Many sites operated as one coordinated, software-managed portfolio.
Flexibility orchestrated and dispatched as a single grid resource.
Capacity, demand-response and ancillary value at system scale.
Aggregation is a scalable roadmap objective, subject to market access and program rules — not a representation of an existing operating fleet. We begin in Ontario, expand across Canada, and extend into North America as the portfolio and market frameworks mature.
FAQ
Ontario's Global Adjustment, Peak Demand Factor and demand-response programs are the machinery this model is built on. The essentials, in plain terms.
Ask about your facility →Global Adjustment is a line item on Ontario electricity bills that covers the difference between market prices and the contracted and regulated costs of generation. Class B customers pay it as a volumetric rate on every MWh consumed. Class A customers pay it based on their Peak Demand Factor — which means controllable peak demand, not just total consumption, drives the charge.
Your Peak Demand Factor is your facility's percentage contribution to system-wide consumption during the five highest-demand hours of the IESO base period (May 1 to April 30). Monthly GA charges through the following adjustment period equal your PDF multiplied by total monthly GA costs. Curtailing demand during those five hours directly lowers your PDF — and every GA bill that follows.
The ICI is the IESO program that allows eligible large electricity consumers to participate as Class A customers, with Global Adjustment charges set by their Peak Demand Factor rather than a volumetric rate. It rewards facilities that can reduce demand during provincial peaks. Eligibility thresholds, opt-in timing and base-period rules apply.
Class B customers pay GA volumetrically — the charge scales with total energy consumed and cannot be managed through timing. Class A (ICI) customers pay through their Peak Demand Factor, so reducing demand during a handful of critical hours can materially reduce a full year of GA charges. For suitable facilities, the class decision is one of the largest levers on the electricity bill.
Ontario's capacity auction pays participating resources a recurring availability payment for being on standby to reduce demand during periods of grid stress. A behind-the-meter battery is well suited to this: it can respond instantly without disrupting operations, stacking capacity revenue on top of Global Adjustment savings.
The battery discharges during predicted peak hours, lowering the demand your facility draws from the grid at the moments that matter most. For Class A customers that means a lower Peak Demand Factor and lower GA charges; for Class B customers it means lower demand-related charges. Energy arbitrage and demand-response revenue can stack on top where program rules allow.
We analyze your interval meter data, tariff class and rate structure, model battery sizing and dispatch against your actual load profile, and return a structured assessment: expected savings ranges, system configuration, and the commercial structures available. The evaluation is a study, not a commitment.
Site evaluation
Tell us about your facility and we will screen the opportunity against interval load and tariff data. If the value stack is there, we will show you what a properly structured behind-the-meter battery could do — and the commercial structures that can deliver it with zero or minimal upfront capital.
Looking for the broader platform — data centres, microgrids, renewables and industrial electrification? Visit the Electron Zero platform page.