SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amid a period of sweeping change for the U.S. electric power sector, Voltus, Inc. (Voltus), the leading distributed energy resource (DER) platform and virtual power plant (VPP) operator, today announced it has joined the Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3). In joining this RMI-backed coalition, Voltus brings its significant experience in aggregating and connecting to electricity markets across the U.S. and Canada nearly 7 gigawatts (GW) of DERs to this effort toward enabling demand-side resources to deliver equitable value for the grid and its users.
"If there's anything the electric power sector can agree on, it's the urgent need to adapt to the intensifying challenges of load growth, aging infrastructure, and physical climate risk. But with advancing grid flexibility technologies and the declining costs of renewable power, we have the capacity to address this head on," said Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey. "Working with our VP3 allies brings grid operators, policymakers, and consumers the resources and guidance they need to ensure that VPPs support the grid, lower costs, and accelerate the energy transition."
Launched in January 2023, the VP3 membership includes champions of demand-side solutions for a more flexible, efficient, and reliable grid representing the automotive, building, energy service, software, and other sectors. Together, Voltus joins VP3 in its effort to:
- Catalog, research, and communicate the benefits of VPPs;
- Develop industry-wide best practices, standards, and roadmaps; and
- Inform and shape policy development
“With more than 500 VPP projects operational across the U.S. and Canada, VPPs are already delivering tremendous system reliability, affordability, and decarbonization benefits for grid operators and commercial and residential customers alike. And both utilities and their customers are increasingly interested in opportunities to maximize the value of behind-the-meter, grid-interactive devices through demand flexibility programs,” said Mark Dyson, RMI Managing Director of Carbon-Free Electricity. “We’re excited to welcome Voltus aboard. By joining its expertise and experiences with those of our existing members, we’re continuing to develop leading practices for VPP program design, inform policymaking, and get the word out to consumers.”
An early entrant into the realm of demand response aggregation and VPP operations, Voltus remains an industry leader. Today, Voltus enables almost 12,000 commercial, industrial, residential, and transportation customers to monetize their DERs—whatever their type—through 60 programs. By partnering with customers across 50 different industries, Voltus has contributed to more than 103,000 metric tons of net avoided CO2 emissions in 2024 alone.
“The rapid deployment of DERs, together with clear federal regulatory frameworks, represents an unprecedented opportunity that, plainly, market operators and policymakers can’t afford to overlook,” said Jon Wellinghoff, the longest-serving Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) who, since 2021, has served as Voltus’ Chief Regulatory Officer. “It’s time we treat these customer-sited devices not as loads to serve, but as an untapped, cost-competitive, clean and consumer-empowering resource.”
About Voltus
Voltus is a leading DER technology platform and virtual power plant operator connecting distributed energy resources to electricity markets, delivering less expensive, more reliable, and more sustainable electricity. Our commercial and industrial customers and DER partners generate cash by allowing Voltus to maximize the value of their flexible load, distributed generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicle resources in these markets. To learn more, visit www.voltus.co.
Media Contact:
Mona Khaldi
Associate Director, Marketing
press@voltus.co
