VPP Data
A free, public database of virtual power plants in the United States
The public database of U.S. VPPs is available here
Background
The goal of this database is to track all Virtual Power Plant (VPP) activity in the United States - all planned, active and ended pilots and programs and their VPP software platforms, trade allies, and incentives offered.
The key question I want to answer is: what are the earnings available to battery buyers who enroll into VPP programs? I believe this is the most important issue because the faster the payback period on a new battery, the better the investment case, and the more batteries that will be purchased and enrolled into VPP programs.
The public database is available in Google Sheets here.
I compiled this data from utility websites, press releases and regulatory filings in October 2023.
Note: this is an early draft and an incomplete list of programs. I’m releasing it now to gather feedback and refine the process for identifying and classifying VPPs. With a good playbook in place for documenting VPPs, I can scale the effort with additional researchers and grow this database significantly.
Please send any comments, feedback, additions or subtractions me on LinkedIn or X or leave a comment in the database.
Key Takeaways
Notwithstanding the above limitations, the following insights stuck out to me:
Earnings available to households enrolling their home batteries into a VPP program vary significantly, Rhode Island at the high end is paying 10x per kW of capacity than New York at the low end.
Several states offer battery owners significant compensation for enrolling into VPPs, making the investment case for new batteries highly attractive. Households in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut can earn more than $200 per year per kW of capacity. This likely represents a sub-10 year payback period, even before tax and other incentives outside of the VPP program. This also excludes the energy cost savings of a home battery as a component of a solar energy system, and the benefit of having a backup power supply during power outages.
States with higher electricity prices pay more to VPP participants. Households in RI, MA and CT can earn more than $200 per kW of capacity for batteries enrolled in VPPs, where electricity prices are about twice the national average.
VPP Operator partnerships with trade allies are a strategic advantage in winning VPP contracts with Utilities and Community Choice Aggregations (CCAs). For example, in 2021, the Clean Power Alliance (CPA), a California based CCA, replaced Olivine with AutoGrid as it brought a stronger network of trade ally partnerships. From the CPA public hearing regarding their pilot with Olivine:
Lesson Learned
Customer acquisition challenges were significant during the pilot, especially for commercial customer segments. Access to information regarding existing installed customer DER technology is limited, making targeted outreach challenging. Customers with previously installed technologies were less likely to participate in Demand Response which would require modifying existing operating procedures. While trade ally partnerships can help address acquisition challenges, negotiating trade ally partnerships on an ad hoc basis through the pilot was complicated and inefficient.Opposition from utilities remains a significant blocker. In 2018, the City of New Orleans approved then canceled a VPP program with Voltus after pushback from its utility Entergy
Still other programs continue to expand. Green Mountain Power in Vermont recently lifted its cap on its Bring Your Own Device program.
Definitions and Limitations
I define a virtual power plant as a system of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) like batteries, solar panels, HVAC systems and appliances that can be remotely controlled and provide energy or reduced demand to the grid during periods of peak load.
VPPs in this database typically consist of a Utility or CCA (e.g., PG&E) partnered with a VPP Operator (e.g., AutoGrid), partnered with a Trade Ally (e.g., Generac). When possible, I counted each Utility-VPP Operator-Trade Ally combination as a separate VPP as incentive schemes can vary depending on the specific Trade Ally. Focusing on incentive scheme levels enables analysis of the ROI / payback period for batteries and thus allows us to understand what VPP programs are the most financially attractive and viable to new members.
So far this database is based on publicly available information from VPP program and trade ally websites, press releases, and regulatory filings. The hope is this list will initiate conversations with more parties in the VPP community and expand and improve upon this list.
The columns in the database are defined as follows:
Program Name: The public or consumer facing name of the VPP program for consumers, trade partners and C&I partners to enroll
Program URL: the consumer facing website hosting information and enrollment instructions for VPP participants. The domain is usually the Utility/CSA or the Trade Ally.
Utility/CSA: the electricity retailer partnered who hosts the VPP program
VPP Platform: the software platform administering the demand response actions of the DERs enrolled into the program. For example, AutoGrid, EnergyHub, Olivine, Stem
Trade Allies: any DER retailers/brands who partner with VPP programs to recruit participants. For example, Tesla, Generac, SolarEdge, sonnen
DERs: the types of DERs available to be enrolled into the VPP program. For example, home batteries, solar, thermostats, heat pumps
Sector: whether the VPP program is focused on Residential households or Commercial and Industrial (C&I) particpants.
Date Announced: the earliest date announced of the VPP program
State/Region: the geographic area of the VPP. Note many VPPs are only available in certain areas of their state
Status: whether the VPP program is Active, Planned or has Ended
Enrolling: whether the VPP program is still enrolling new customers
Auto-enroll: whether DER owners have been enrolled into the program by default
VPP Capacity: the amount of capacity reported
Battery Incentive: the following columns are used the calculate the earnings available to Residential home battery owners, where applicable. In cases where different incentives are offered for new vs existing batteries, the incentive for newly installed batteries was selected. This is to better analyze the question of where is the highest ROI for the marginal battery.
Upfront: payment per kW for enrolling into a VPP program that is not contingent on a certain number of years enrolled
Annual: annual payment per kW for enrolling into a VPP program. Incentives from programs offering an “upfront payment” but requiring muli-year commitment are included in this column on an average annual basis
Discharge: payments from VPP programs that offer compensation per unit discharged to the grid
Estimated Annual $: estimated annual earnings per kW to households enrolled in VPP programs assuming a 5 year term length and 25 hours per year of discharge into the grid
Press release: press release or coverage of the announcement of a VPP program
Notes: any VPP program specific comments
Regulatory Filings: where available, public record discussion of the VPP program
With appreciation
I’m new to virtual power plants and owe a great deal to those who created valuable public resources and others who spent time teaching me about the space.
Public resources:
Individuals:
Feedback
I plan to continually add to and improve this database. Once I can confirm I have a good playbook for identifying and classifying VPPs, I can bring on additional researchers and scale this effort significantly.
Please send any additions or feedback to me on LinkedIn or X or leave a comment in the database.