Markets We Serve / EV Charging Operators

Add the Chargers Your Service Can't Carry Yet

DC fast charging runs into two limits at almost every site. The utility can’t deliver more power without a long and costly upgrade, and every vehicle that plugs in sets a new demand charge. A battery solves both. It lets you add chargers on the service you have, and it flattens the peaks that drive your bill.
Carina originates, develops and permits battery storage for EV charging operators. You focus on building your charging network. We permit your batteries.
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DC fast charging stations beside a battery energy storage enclosure at a commercial charging site.

The Need Outlasts the Incentive

State programs in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois now pay for batteries at commercial sites. Those programs set the pace and decide which territories go first. But they open, fill and reset on their own schedules.
The lasting case is grid capacity and demand charges. Both exist wherever you build, with or without an incentive. A portfolio plan that pencils only while a program is open is a plan with an end date. We screen every territory with incentives on and off.

Nine Ways a Battery Earns at a Charging Site

Every site is valued on the same nine streams. The first two last. The rest come and go with programs and policy.

01
Grid capacity and faster energization.
Avoid or defer a utility service upgrade, and open sites months sooner. The stream most specific to EV charging, and the one standard tools do not value.
02
Demand charge reduction.
Shave the peaks that charging sessions create, including time-of-use demand and ratchets, net of EV rates and demand charge holidays.
03
Energy shifting.
Charge the battery when power is cheap and use it on site when it is expensive, cutting the energy charges on your bill. Usually a smaller stream.

04
Capacity charge reduction.
In PJM, NYISO and ISO-NE, cutting load during system peak hours lowers the capacity charges on your bill.

05
Demand response and grid programs.
Utility programs, state performance programs and ISO programs through an aggregator pay for battery output during events.
06
State incentives and rebates.
Upfront payments per kWh, often in blocks that step down as capacity fills.



07
Federal tax credit.
The investment tax credit at 30%, 40% or 50%, depending on equipment sourcing and site adders.

08
Export compensation.
Some states pay for energy a battery sends to the grid, such as New York's Value Stack. Usually small at a busy charging site, because the battery mostly serves the site's own load.
09
Clean peak certificates.
Some states reward energy delivered in seasonal peak hours with certificates, such as Massachusetts' Clean Peak Standard. Prices follow the market, and eligibility depends on the site.
Not every stream stacks. Some programs bar double enrollment, and demand shaving competes with program events for the same stored energy. We set a stacking rule and a dispatch priority for each territory.

One Territory at a Time, Many Sites at Once

A charging portfolio is not one project repeated fifty times. Each utility territory has its own tariffs, programs and interconnection rules. We build the work around the territory, then move every site in it through development in parallel.

01

Target the market.

We confirm where the money is, how much is left, the size and per-company caps, and when funds get reserved. That means calling program administrators, not just reading the program manual.

02

Plan the sequence.

We rank your territories and sites, and set the batches and the order of attack.

03

Build the territory package once.

A standard one-line diagram, layout, equipment list, utility application and permit template, reused at every site in the territory.

04

Deploy in batches.

We screen 10 to 20 sites at a time and take the ones that pass through applications, permits and notice to proceed on the shared package.

05

Move to the next territory.

The playbook carries over. Each new territory starts from a proven package instead of a blank page.

The more sites in a territory, the less each one costs to develop.

A BESS Development Department, Without Building One

You do not need to hire a battery engineer, a fire protection engineer, an interconnection manager and a permitting specialist to add storage to your charging sites. We are that team, with a codified process built for volume.

Portfolio screen.

Which of your territories and sites pencil, under each program's rules, at today's equipment prices.

Development PMO.

A PMP-certified project manager, a client portal with every site on a map, and status by territory and stage.

Applications desk.

Incentive enrollments, utility applications and permit filings tracked across all sites, with every deadline in one place.

Licensed specialists.

Battery, fire protection, electrical, civil and permitting specialists who bill for their own hours, without a firm staffing several people on each task.

Stamped drawings when you need them.

Sealed by a Professional Engineer licensed in your state, under that engineer's own license and insurance.

Equipment selection.

A technical RFI across at least two OEMs that screens price, footprint, fire test data and tax credit eligibility together.

Site Feasibility & Permits Matrix →

Interconnection Management →

Development & Permitting →

FEOC Compliance Support →

Managed Project Controls →

Built for Charging Operators at Every Stage

Operators new to batteries

You own or control a growing network of charging sites, and storage is a new discipline for your team. We act as your battery development department: territory strategy, sequencing, incentive administration and development through notice to proceed.

Charging developers with a storage team

Your team already knows where batteries belong. We execute alongside it: permitting matrices, applications and interconnection, including the jurisdictions where battery permits are hardest to get. Your team keeps control of the portfolio.
We work as an extension of your team. You keep your process, your vendors and your decisions.

The Tax Credit Depends on Size and Sourcing

Two thresholds matter for batteries at charging sites. Systems under 1 MW AC can reach the 30% base credit without prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Systems above 1 MWh fall under the grid-scale cost table for foreign entity of concern rules, where battery cells carry most of the cost. A typical 1 MW, 3 MWh site sits on both sides of those lines.
The right equipment choice turns on the gap between compliant and non-compliant prices, and on whether waiting for compliant supply is worth it. We work that out site by site. Your tax advisor makes the final call.

Read our FEOC Compliance Guide for BESS →

Tier 1 BESS Expertise

We bring the operating rigor of global energy leaders to your project. Methods forged by deploying gigawatts, not just megawatts.

From the Carina Rules

Battery Storage at DC Fast Charging Sites

Grid limits and demand charges make the case for batteries at charging sites. Incentives decide where to start. How to tell which sites pencil.

READ THE ARTICLE →

Which of Your Territories Pencil?

Send us your charging locations. We will tell you which territories have money for batteries and where to start.
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