Vermont's distributed power fleet becomes its biggest energy resource

A network of home batteries and devices in Vermont now acts as the state's largest energy source, reportedly cutting $6M in peak costs.

According to the metadata for this signal, Green Mountain Power's virtual power plant "— a coordinated network of distributed devices such as home batteries — has become the largest single energy source in Vermont. The reporting credits it with cutting $6 million in peak costs.

A virtual power plant matters for abundance because it treats demand and small distributed storage as a resource, not just a load. Instead of building or firing up expensive peaker plants to cover the highest-demand hours, a utility can lean on many small batteries and devices already installed in homes. When it works, that lowers the most expensive slice of the grid's costs, which is the part that tends to push up everyone's bills.

We were unable to reach the source for this item, so the details beyond the metadata line sit with the original reporting. The full picture he number of participating homes, how the savings were measured, and how the program is structured elongs to Electrek's account rather than this brief.

Source: Electrek