PG&E, Tesla launch pilot virtual power plant for approximately 25,000 customers
Looking to improve electric grid reliability, a partnership of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Tesla Inc. have created a new virtual power plant (VPP) pilot program consisting of the world’s largest distributed battery.
After inviting approximately 25,000 PG&E customers with Powerwall home battery systems to join the VPP last month, more than 3,000 customers of PG&E have expressed interest, and more than 1,500 have signed up. Enrollment will continue through October, with cash incentives offered to participants for combining their Powerwalls with the VPP for discharging power back to the California grid during times of high electricity demand.
“VPPs are a valuable resource for supporting grid reliability and an essential part of California’s clean energy future,” Aaron August, PG&E vice president of business development and customer engagement, said. “Our customers’ home batteries offer a unique resource that can positively contribute to our state’s electric grid and will become more significant as our customers continue to adopt clean energy technology. In collaborating with Tesla, we are further integrating behind-the-meter battery-based VPPs on the largest scale yet, helping to make customer resiliency technologies more accessible and continuing a long tradition at PG&E of actively integrating VPP resources into our energy supply portfolio.”
The partners noted that if all eligible customers throughout PG&E’s northern and central California service area were to participate in the VPP, the megawatts this would make available would be equivalent to the energy generated by a small power plant. In this way, they hope to accelerate the process of customers adopting distributed energy resource technologies.
Customers are eligible if they have an interconnection agreement with PG&E, a Tesla Powerwall, and are not enrolled in other demand response programs. Participants will gain $2 for every incremental kW hour of electricity their Powerwall discharged during designated PG&E events.
