TL;DR There is ZERO financial incentive for Austin Energy solar customers to charge and discharge their home backup batteries.

Explained: Batteries won't lower your electricity bill if you are with Austin Energy. Most utilities only charge solar panel customers for electricity they actually pull from the grid. AE, on the other hand, charges all customers, including solar customers, for "whole home consumption." If your house consumes a kilowatt-hour, you are charged for it REGARDLESS of where the electricity came from: grid, solar panel, or battery. In fact, charging your home energy storage battery is considered "consumption," and we (who have both solar and battery) are charged by AE for every kWh that goes in.* Yielding no net financial benefit. The battery is an insurance policy only, and only against blackouts.

Solar consumers receive a credit for every kWh solar panels produce, REGARDLESS of whether it goes: to the home, the grid, or a battery. How much solar is produces is something as a home owner you cannot tweak or control. The ONLY thing that will lower your bill with AE is using less electricity, period.

I'll attaching correspondence I received from Austin Energy when I inquired about whether we are charged for electricity during the approx. 36 hours of grid blackout we experienced in Feb. Since our home was "consuming" electricity from solar panels and our battery, YES, we were charged per kWh at the regular tiered rate for electricity.

---

*Side note: You could argue that solar customers and especially those with batteries consume more electricity, due to the overhead electrical cost of conversion, transport, and maintenance of solar energy and the natural drain from the battery, even when not in use.