Google and the California-based energy firm Voltus announced Thursday that they are pursuing one gigawatt of virtual power plant capacity in the PJM Interconnection, according to Canary Media. The target is ten times the 100-megawatt goal the companies set in June.
Virtual power plants are networks of homes and businesses whose energy use can be controlled through software. Voltus introduced a bring-your-own-capacity concept in 2025 in which data center developers pay other utility customers to reduce consumption when demand peaks. Google is the only data center developer that has publicly partnered with Voltus on the approach. Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey said the first 100 megawatts was always an initial step toward scale.
PJM is the largest grid operator in the country and delivers power to about 67 million people from Illinois to Virginia. The cost of securing enough power to meet peak demand there has risen more than eightfold in the past few years. PJM forecasts that data centers and other large loads will add 30 to 34 gigawatts of demand by the early 2030s, on a system that recently peaked at 162.6 gigawatts. Interconnection queues have slowed the arrival of new power plants.
Voltus is securing commitments from participating customers to cut use or supply battery power at peak times through 2040. That period is longer than most demand-response programs require, and PJM's annual capacity auction secures resources three years ahead. The gigawatt for Google is in addition to the capacity Voltus already bids into the PJM market.
Voltus manages more than 9 gigawatts of demand response and virtual power plant capacity nationwide, has a target of 20 gigawatts by 2030, and raised $225 million earlier this month.
Source: Canary Media - https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/virtual-power-plants/google-plans-big-virtual-power-plant-in-energy-strapped-pjm-grid