Can virtual power plants relieve hot spots on neighborhood power grids?

AI generated summary

In California, virtual power plants (VPPs) are emerging as a solution to manage energy resources like solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles to prevent blackouts and reduce electricity costs. Utilities are now exploring the potential of strategically concentrating these resources in specific neighborhoods to defer costly upgrades to local infrastructure. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is piloting a program called Seasonal Aggregation of Versatile Energy (SAVE) to assess how customer-owned batteries and smart energy controls can effectively meet localized grid demands.

The SAVE program aims to enroll up to 1,500 residential customers with solar batteries and 400 customers with smart electrical panels. By leveraging these technologies, PG&E hopes to alleviate peak demand pressures on local distribution grids, which are often pushed to their limits. This initiative could significantly reduce the rising costs associated with grid upgrades, as utilizing existing customer resources may prove more economical than traditional overbuilding methods. However, establishing trust and reliability in these customer commitments remains a critical challenge for utilities.