Virtual power plants

Google Nest spinout picks Texas for 1GW virtual power plant

NRG Energy and Renew Home think Texas is the place to use millions of smart thermostats to build the country’s biggest virtual power plant. Here’s why.

By Jeff St. John . 19 November 2024

A subdivision in Houston, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Virtual power plants

Hundreds of New Yorkers got free batteries to help clean up the grid

A novel collaboration between solar installer Sunrun and utility Orange & Rockland shows how New York could tap household solar generation to advance climate goals.

By Julian Spector . 30 October 2024
Guest essay

We need distributed solar and energy storage, not utility monopolies

Xcel wants to build 800 MW of distributed energy in Minnesota, but makes it hard for its customers to own their own solar and batteries. That’s bad for ratepayers, and for the climate.

By John Farrell . 24 October 2024
Virtual power plants

Here’s a blueprint for building virtual power plants in every state

Utilities could save billions by tapping customers’ solar systems, EVs, and electric appliances. These firms and advocates have a plan to make it happen.

By Jeff St. John . 11 September 2024
Virtual power plants

California could cut utility bills with distributed energy. Why isn’t it?

Rooftop solar, batteries, EVs, and smart thermostats could help rein in rising grid costs — if only California could pass policies to make it happen.

By Jeff St. John . 10 September 2024
Virtual power plants

Xcel Minnesota looks to mimic power plants with solar and storage

The utility’s “virtual power plant” proposal taps an emerging model to replace retiring fossil fuel generation, but advocates say the devil is in the details.

By Frank Jossi . 28 August 2024
Distributed energy resources

Houston’s post-Beryl outages highlight benefits of distributed energy

More solar, batteries, and gas microgrids could have helped Houston during last week’s outages. But state leaders and utilities haven’t made them a priority.

By Jeff St. John . 18 July 2024
Virtual power plants

California budget cuts could decimate key virtual-power-plant programs

Governor Gavin Newsom plans to slash funding for batteries and utility customers to help with grid emergencies — but money for fossil fuel generators keeps flowing.

By Jeff St. John . 5 June 2024
Virtual power plants

Four ways virtual power plants can help the US grid keep up with demand

States are starting to experiment with VPPs to boost clean energy capacity on America's overtaxed grid. Experts broke it down at SXSW in Austin.

By Maria Gallucci . 13 March 2024