Can cemeteries be part of the “Battery Storage solution” and profit from it at the same time?

October 26, 2026/Business, Cemetery, Products, Regulations/

An NFDA Convention Discussion Issue

One of the issues that we have in America right now is that utility companies need to “store electricity” to help meet peak demand periods. Here’s how a recent article in the Wall Street Journal explained why this is so imprtant to utility companies at this time, “Battery energy storage systems charge when electricity is plentiful and demand is relatively low. They then send stored power back to the grid when demand rises”

And, in a time of energy costs rising, this “Battery Storage” opportunity allows these utilities to hold down the costs of energy.

Here’s more of what the Wall Street Journal said in the same article about the smaller energy storage units into geographic areas where there is a high density population:

Putting smaller arrays closer to where people live has several advantages. Smaller projects can get up and running faster than bigger sites, developers say. Batteries near population centers relieve congestion on the grid during high demand by distributing power directly to the surrounding area. And in communities with private rooftop solar panels, the batteries can absorb excess electricity from those sources, with less of it being lost than if it had to travel to more remote storage.

“You can fit them in the edges of unused land,” says Pier LaFarge, chief executive of utility company Sparkfund, which is helping deploy batteries in suburban and urban areas for utility Exel Energy in Minnesota. “It adds up to a really big impact on the grid and communities.”

Finally, the WSJ article says that there is a push to place these smaller battery systems that are up to five megawatts in urban and suburban areas. . . . . and they have been fine-tuned so that they can fit on an area of that is the size of 1/4 of an acre — that’s an area in size slightly larger than only 10,000 square feet.

The problem to date is that many neighborhood groups have formed NIMBY opposition — “Not in my backyard”. The article goes on to state that one group in New York City financed by Carlyle Group and Manulife Financial is converting old, commercial property areas, such as gas stations to this use.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: I like to look for solutions in unlikely places. l think a solution to this power storage situation that can lower the cost of energy for consumers could be helped by cemeteries leasing a small portion of their property to these storage units. For instance, I just looked up the size of the large cemetery inside the City of Minneapolis, where the afore-mentioned Exel Energy is located and found out that Lakewood Cemetery is 250 acres in size. . . . . .Would one-fourth of one of those acres be available in a remote part of the cemetery for this use which would lower the price of energy use for those around the cemetery?

Minneapolis Lakewood Cemetery website

And, in a day and age when traditional burial spaces are being purchased less and less. . . . .could a lease arrangement for the property be a welcome revenue enhancement for the cemetery?

My guess is that there are metropolitan cemeteries all over the country who have the available space and could use the revenue if the situation is a fit for them.

Back in 2024 Funeral Director Daily published an article on cemeteries putting solar fields inside their cemeteries . . . .making use of unused real estate for a lease payment. Those solar fields took up much more space than the battery storage units would.

Related Article — “These Spanish cemeteries now double as solar farms” Fasttimes (published June 7, 2024)

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