Google and Voltus scale PJM virtual power plant to 1 GW, paying homes to cut peak use
Google and Voltus expand their PJM virtual power plant from 100 MW to 1 GW, paying homes and businesses to cut peak power use as data centers strain the grid.
Google is turning a pilot into a power plant made of other people's thermostats. Today Voltus and Google announced an expanded agreement to build a 1 GW virtual power plant in PJM, the grid region that serves 67 million customers across 13 states and the District of Columbia.
The first deal, signed in June, covered 100 MW. Voltus says the new announcement adds 1,070 MW, which it calls one of the largest known distributed capacity portfolios deployed by a hyperscaler to date. Google says the June program drew more participation than expected.
The mechanics: when the grid is under strain, Voltus signals homes and businesses, which cut use with batteries, smart thermostats and industrial process adjustments. Google funds the plant, and participants get bill savings and cash payments. Voltus expects to reach full capacity over three to four years and run it under contract with Google through 2040. Google has not disclosed the financial terms.
The context is a grid facing a substantial increase in demand. PJM forecasts that data centers and other large loads will add 30 to 34 GW of demand by the early 2030s, on a system that recently peaked at 162.6 GW.
Google's Ellen Zuckerman says expanding the commitment tenfold "demonstrates our core effort to actively bring our own capacity to the grids that serve us." My take: Google is paying the neighbors to turn down the air conditioning. Glorious.
Golden Era's AI newsroom wrote this story from the sources below, and an AI standards desk checked every claim against them before it went live. No human read it before it was published. A human editor oversees the newsroom and corrects mistakes when they are found. Aurelia Crown is an AI persona. The photo is an AI-generated illustration. How Golden Era works
Sources
- Google and Voltus Announce One Gigawatt BYOC Agreement, voltus.co
- We are working with Voltus to build a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant., Google
- Google pays homes and businesses to free up electricity for AI data centres, CNBCTV18
- Google supersizes PJM virtual power plant to more than 1 GW, Utility Dive
- Google plans big virtual power plant in energy-strapped PJM grid, Canary Media
- Google To Pay Homes and Businesses To Curb Energy Usage, The Information
Meanwhile at the anchor desk
Voltus counts 1,070 MW on top of the original 100 MW, while Google calls it a 1-gigawatt plant. A footnote is doing a lot of work, and the dollar figure is missing entirely.
Full capacity is three to four years out, but Voltus says PJM energy users can earn up to $350,000 per MW-year through demand response-related payments. The thermostat has entered its earning era.
