PAXTON, Mass. – The Town of Paxton has some brand new batteries.

“Their purpose is to save money for the community," Rory Jones said, "and indirectly reduce carbon emissions.”

Jones is a founder of Lightshift Energy. He said the energy storage units will save 25,000 tons of CO2 over the course of their lives.

“They charge usually in the middle of the night, when power cost is lowest and carbon intensity is usually lower," Jones said. "And then they discharge at the peak of the day, when energy cost is highest and usually carbon intensity is a lot higher.”

The new batteries are also expected to save Paxton Municipal Light Department customers about $10 million over the next 20 years. Board of Selectmen chair Julia Pingitori said Paxton’s Light Department has served its ratepayers well for more than 100 years.

“It helps keep our rates low, but more than ever, especially with some of these storms that we're starting to see roll in, it helps keep us in power," Pingitori said. "So, if the power goes out, we have linemen who are available and ready to assist and can get us back online very quickly, usually in a matter of minutes, not hours, not days.”

And Paxton isn’t the only community saving on energy costs and emissions. More are anticipated in the coming years and the Department of Public Utilities is considering the storage systems on a larger scale to save money for customers across the Commonwealth.

“We have four operational systems now across the state," Jones said. "Two in Groton, one here in Paxton, and one in Holden; and we're continuing to build.”

“We don't actually regulate municipal light plants, but this is the kind of things that municipal light plants can do; they're small, they're nimble," DPU chair Jamie Van Nostrand said. "These are the kind of innovations that we want the large utilities in Massachusetts to be looking at, like Eversource and National Grid, is being able to look at battery storage project as key. The same kind of economic and environmental benefits that these batteries are going to deliver for Paxton.”

“If our little town can do it, then we think they can do it," Pingitori said. "So, let's make it happen.”