HOMER software for energy projects in the United States

Grid-scale BESS — HOMER Front

US BESS revenue stacking is ISO-specific. ERCOT is an energy-only market — no capacity payments exist. Revenue comes from ECRS (ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service), RRS (Responsive Reserve Service), Reg-up, Reg-down, and real-time energy, with fast cycling rewarded by the market design. CAISO's Slice-of-Day Resource Adequacy framework anchors BESS value in California; Dynamic RA and the Flexible RA obligation layer on top alongside AS products and day-ahead/real-time energy arbitrage.

PJM offers capacity revenue through RPM auctions (annual, 3-year ahead), plus energy and ancillary services. NYISO layers the Installed Capacity market with ancillary products and VDER (Value of Distributed Energy Resources) for distributed assets. ISO-NE's Forward Capacity Market (FCM) obligates assets to provide energy when called; ancillary services layer on top. MISO's Planning Resource Auction (PRA) and SPP's capacity construct round out the RTO landscape.

HOMER Front models all seven ISO/RTO designs with real-time and day-ahead price inputs, AS clearing probabilities, and capacity market revenue assumptions. The IRA tax credit model — §48E ITC base rate plus domestic content and energy community bonus adders, transferability discount, and direct pay timing — integrates into the project-level IRR and NPV output.

Long-duration storage is an emerging segment. California's LDES procurement, the DOE Long Duration Storage Earthshot target (90% cost reduction for 10-hour+ storage by 2030), and FERC Orders 841 and 2222 enabling DER aggregation are creating market structures that reward multi-day storage. HOMER Front's duration sizing module evaluates 1-hour through 10-hour+ configurations under these emerging market designs.

Commercial, industrial, and data centers — HOMER Grid

Behind-the-meter solar-plus-storage economics in the US are state-specific but broadly compelling. Demand charges from $10 to $30+/kW/month across major utility territories create strong BTM storage incentives. State programs sharpen the case further: California SGIP (Self-Generation Incentive Program) offers rebates up to $0.40/Wh for storage; New York's VDER Value Stack and Bulk Storage Incentive fund BTM deployments; New Jersey SuSI and TI programs support distributed storage; Massachusetts SMART and Clean Peak Energy Standard reward solar and storage in combination.

Data centers represent the fastest-growing load in the US grid. Northern Virginia (Dominion Energy territory) hosts more hyperscale capacity than most countries — grid interconnection queues are backed up multi-year, pushing operators toward significant on-site generation. ERCOT in Texas draws AI hyperscaler investment with permissive permitting. Phoenix's SRP and APS territories are approaching saturation. HOMER Grid models on-site solar-plus-BESS configurations, PPA structuring, hourly matching scenarios for net-zero commitments, and critical load resilience under Tier III/IV uptime constraints.

EV charging infrastructure under NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) federal funding and state programmes represents a rapidly scaling load. HOMER Grid handles EV charging demand profiles alongside on-site generation and BESS dispatch under TOU tariff structures.

Remote communities, Tribal energy, and military — HOMER Pro

HOMER was built at NREL specifically for this segment. In Alaska, over 200 remote villages rely on diesel generation at delivered fuel costs of $1.00–$2.00+/kWh. The Alaska Energy Authority's (AEA) Renewable Energy Fund, the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program, and the DOE Office of Indian Energy have funded hundreds of hybrid power projects in these communities. HOMER Pro is referenced directly in AEA grant applications and in the academic literature on Alaskan microgrid economics.

Tribal microgrids serve 574 federally recognised Tribes across the continental US. The DOE Office of Indian Energy administers direct funding for tribal energy projects — HOMER outputs are aligned with DOE reporting requirements. Tribal energy projects carry a sovereignty context that requires careful framing: these are sovereign nations developing their own energy infrastructure, not recipients of charity. HOMER Pro has been used by tribal energy offices, tribal utilities, and the consultancies that serve them for over two decades.

US military installation resilience has been a DoD priority since the 2012 Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity and subsequent guidance. MILCON-funded microgrid projects at Fort Bliss, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Tyndall AFB (post-hurricane rebuild), and dozens of other installations use HOMER-generated analyses. HOMER Grid and Pro model both planned islanding and unplanned grid-outage survivability under NFPA 110 and DoD installation resilience standards.