It’s not too far-fetched to think of a day when the ice that cools your favorite fizzy drink also puts money back in your pocket.

Think of it this way: Those ice cubes tinkling merrily in your glass are a form of energy storage, albeit on a really micro-scale. Your refrigerator’s freezing unit transforms water to ice. Ice in a large enough volume could potentially offset a portion of your electricity demand to run air conditioning units on a hot summer afternoon. By tapping into financial incentives offered by your local utility, that ice-chilled beverage could be a money-maker.

Admittedly, the notion of using cold drinks as retirement income is a bit out there. But utility Green Mountain Power has launched an 18-month pilot program to demonstrate how an ice storage facility at a Vermont hospital can work as a distributed energy resource. If it’s successful, the hospital’s large-scale ice maker, combined with other load resources that the utility hopes to enlist in the pilot, could reduce peak electricity demand and create a revenue stream. (Read more.)