California could save big if virtual power plants target ‘sweet spots’
The state’s utilities could use rooftop solar, batteries, and EVs to cut $13.7B in costs — by applying those to the right parts of stressed-out local grids.
The cost of keeping California’s power grid up and running is skyrocketing, and in turn, so are households’ energy bills. Virtual power plants, which harness the combined power of lots of rooftop solar systems, home batteries, EVs, and smart-home appliances, can help — especially if utilities use them to relieve pressure at counterintuitive “sweet spots” on the grid.
So finds a new report that examines how the state’s utilities can spend less on new infrastructure by occasionally paying homes and businesses to reduce power use or to inject energy into the system — a concept known as “load flexibility.” Think tank GridLab published the study in collaboration with Kevala, a grid-focused data analytics startup.
One of the main reasons utilities’ expenses are rising is that the companies are putting more money toward their distribution grids — the poles, wires, and transformers that deliver power from electrical substations to homes.
