The renewable generations (RGs) are conventionally interfaced with the utility grid through battery energy storage systems (BESS). In this cascaded configuration of the grid-connected inverter, battery and RG, the power of the battery is passively governed by the power difference between the RG and the grid. This compromises the state-of-charge (SoC) control of the battery and increases the storage capacity. To address this issue, a hybrid electric spring (HES), which is integrated with the RG and non-critical load (NCL), is proposed in this paper for the grid-tied power control and reduction of battery storage capacity in AC microgrids. Such an integrated configuration enables a flexible control of the power flow among battery, NCL and grid. On top of that, the proposed HES can achieve an extended operating region of grid-tied power control compared with the conventional BESS and the existing electric springs (ES). The operating principle, steady-state analysis and control design of the HES are discussed. The functions of the grid-tied power control and battery SoC control are verified experimentally and through simulations.