Software-enabled energy supplier David Energy has partnered with food technology platform Wonder to deploy consumer-grade, 120-volt plug-in battery storage across 21 New York City locations, utilizing custom software integration to cut commercial kitchen electricity bills by 3% to 5% while bypassing traditional utility interconnection queues entirely.
David Energy has expanded its commercial distributed energy resource footprint across New York City, partnering with food technology platform Wonder to deploy consumer-grade, 120-volt plug-in battery systems across 21 eligible locations.
The turnkey project leverages custom software integration to automate commercial load-shifting, reducing store electricity costs without requiring upfront capital expenditure or traditional utility interconnection queues.
The deployment utilizes EcoFlow STREAM Ultra modular hardware units, featuring lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry rated for 800 W output and 1.92 kWh of storage capacity per base unit. Connecting directly to standard 120-volt AC circuits inside store breaker rooms, the hardware relies on custom software integration developed by David Energy rather than standard commercial-grade battery management architectures.
By controlling charging and discharging schedules through its proprietary platform, David Energy executes automated time-of-use arbitrage for Wonder’s all-electric kitchen loads. The batteries draw power during off-peak overnight hours when wholesale market prices and grid congestion are lowest, then discharge stored energy to power kitchen refrigeration and food preparation equipment during high-cost utility demand windows.
Because these 120-volt consumer-grade units operate strictly behind the meter with zero backfeeding onto the distribution network, the installations completely bypass standard utility interconnection queuing in Con Edison territory. This non-interconnected operational profile enables rapid multi-site deployment without waiting through traditional utility study and approval timelines.
Under a standard 36-month zero-capex contract structure, David Energy retains ownership of the battery hardware while providing the turn-key system to commercial end users. The financial model combines direct time-of-use bill management, demand charge reduction, demand response earnings, and capacity tag (ICAP) mitigation, lowering total customer electricity bills by an average of 3% to 5%.
By controlling the hardware to reduce its own wholesale cost to serve, David Energy achieves a simple payback period of approximately three years per deployment. The company expects payback timelines to compress further as hardware costs decline and software control algorithms continue to improve.
To supply virtual power plant capacity to the regional grid, eligible locations deployed prior to program deadlines are enrolled in Con Edison’s Commercial System Relief Program (CSRP) and Distribution Load Relief Program (DLRP). Dispatched during peak thermal stress, the aggregated plug-in batteries alleviate local feeder congestion during summer heatwaves and mitigate reliance on fossil-fired peaker plants across the metropolitan area.
Building on the initial 21-site rollout in New York City, engineering teams from David Energy and Wonder are developing back-of-house architectural templates for Wonder’s 2027 location builds. These schematics will integrate standardized battery placements directly into future store construction plans.
Beyond Wonder’s restaurant network, David Energy is rolling out the zero-capex plug-in storage offering to other power-dense small-business verticals across New York City’s five boroughs, targeting laundromats, independent grocers, convenience stores, and commercial retail chains.
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