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Issue file · activeTracking since Oct 1 · 6 articles · 3 outlets
Pew-Brattle study backs virtual power plants as alternative to data center buildout
Tracking: Virtual power plants as data center grid alternativePolicy debate over scaling virtual power plants and distributed energy resources through utility programs, state regulation, RTO market rules such as PJM's, and federal support, as a lower-cost way to meet data center load growth and avoid stranded grid investment if AI demand falls short.
Energy
Articles · 14 days
- Earliest seen
- Oct 1
- Canary Media · Thursday, Oct 1
- Articles · 30d
- 5
- 1.3 per story
- Outlets
- 3
- Most: Latitude Media (2)
- Hill · 30d
- 1
- Last: Wednesday, Nov 11 · none ahead
- Contracts · 30d
- 0
- No awards or solicitations
- Momentum
- 0.3
- Articles ▼2 vs prior week
Activity
30 days back, 14 ahead · hollow = scheduledWhat's happening
Updated 2d agoA Brattle Group analysis for Pew finds quadrupling distributed energy capacity by 2050 could avoid $614 billion in U.S. power system costs and hedge against overbuilt data center infrastructure. A House bill on virtual power plant standards (H.R. 11012) was referred to committee on Nov. 12, while California's SB913 moves VPPs into the resource adequacy market and Google and Voltus seek a gigawatt of VPP capacity in PJM. No upcoming hearings or votes appear in the items.
Latest
2d agoOur first signal
Hill
1 Hill itemH.R. 11012, directing the Energy Secretary to adopt model standards and best practices for VPP adoption, was referred to House Energy and Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology on Nov. 12.
Contracts
From news coverageGoogle and Voltus are seeking to procure a gigawatt of VPP capacity in PJM for data center grid relief, with long-term customer commitments through 2040.
Pressure
3 articlesPew, Brattle analysts, Tesla and Advanced Energy United back scaling DERs and VPPs; PG&E and some developers are mixed on implementation, and California utilities oppose limits on return on equity and capital spending.
Who covered it, when
A dot per article · ringed = earliest in our sourcesForces at work
share of articles- Threats & findings2 · 29%Brattle modeling for Pew finds quadrupling DERs by 2050 could avoid $614 billion in costs and roughly halve household bill increases.Pew Charitable Trusts · Brattle Group · Ryan Hledik · Maureen Quinlan
- Legislation2 · 29%H.R. 11012 was referred to House committees, and Newsom signed California bills expanding VPPs and curbing utility capital spending.House Energy and Commerce Committee · Gavin Newsom · California Legislature
- Industry advocacy1 · 14%At DERVOS, a FERC commissioner and Jigar Shah urged DER firms to prove reliability value; Rosner backed assigning new infrastructure costs to data centers.David Rosner · Jigar Shah
- Regulation1 · 14%California's SB913 moves VPPs from emergency pilots into the resource adequacy market, with stakeholders debating measurement and double-counting.California · Raghav Murali · Jomo Thorne · Brandon Garcia
- Procurement & funding1 · 14%Google and Voltus aim to procure a gigawatt of VPP capacity in PJM to ease data center grid strain.Google · Voltus · Dana Guernsey
In the news
6 articles2d agoPR NewswireNew Research Shows DERs Could Avoid More Than Half a Trillion Dollars in U.S. Energy Costs 9d agoLatitude MediaOriginalWhat will it take to open California’s market to more VPPs? 9d agoLatitude MediaOriginalHow distributed energy can capitalize on the blue wave 10d agoCanary MediaEarliestVirtual power plants can help avoid overbuilt grid if AI boom goes bust Oct 22Canary MediaOriginalGoogle plans big virtual power plant in energy-strapped PJM grid Oct 1Canary MediaOriginalNewsom finally says yes to virtual power plants
On the Hill
13d agoCongressCommittee on Energy and CommerceReferral of H.R. 11012, a House bill directing the Secretary of Energy to adopt model standards and best practices for virtual power plant adoption, to Energy and Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology committees.Sequential referral period to be determined by the SpeakerH.R. 11012EnergyPew-Brattle study backs virtual power plants as alternative to data center buildoutDetails2 linked