Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) commits to file a virtual power plant (VPP) framework by end of 2027, expanding grid resources beyond battery storage.

Illinois' grid is being tested in unprecedented ways—and for the right reasons. Families are adopting electric vehicles. Businesses and homes are installing solar and batteries to maintain resilience and lower energy costs. And the state's growing economy is attracting new demand, particularly from businesses drawn by competitive rates, reliable service, and supportive energy policies.

All of this is modernizing the energy system, but it raises an urgent question: How do we keep electricity reliable and affordable as demand grows, especially during peak periods?

Meeting this challenge requires better use of all available resources, including technologies customers already own. Virtual power plants can coordinate distributed assets—batteries and other flexible devices—to reduce demand when the grid is most strained, lowering system costs while creating new ways for customers to participate in grid operations.

Illinois has already moved forward. ComEd's recently approved Scheduled Dispatch Virtual Power Plant program allows customers with eligible battery systems to make a portion of their capacity available during peak periods in exchange for performance-based payments. But this is just the beginning. By the end of 2027, ComEd will file a broader Virtual Power Plant framework that extends beyond batteries to incorporate the range of technologies customers are already adopting—electric vehicles, smart appliances, and other flexible devices could all help keep costs down and reliability high.

Building this framework requires getting the details right. As more technologies become grid-capable, Illinois needs clear rules: how different resources participate, how their contributions are measured and valued, and how programs deliver benefits to both participating customers and the broader system.

A virtual power plant works by linking energy devices customers already own—home batteries, for instance—and coordinating them when the grid needs them. Consider a typical summer afternoon. As air conditioning runs full tilt in offices and homes, electricity is most expensive and the grid most strained. Traditionally, this requires maintaining and deploying costly plants that everyone ultimately funds through their bills. Instead, customers who participate in a Virtual Power Plant can voluntarily share a small portion of their energy use or generation. The result is lower costs, fewer expensive system upgrades, and a more efficient grid for everyone.

The Scheduled Dispatch program provides a focused starting point while giving Illinois experience to inform what comes next. Last year's Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act made VPPs formal policy and set the stage for expansion. Moving beyond this initial battery program means considering a wider range of technologies, capabilities, and participation models.

This raises critical questions for utilities and regulators. The framework must establish which technologies can reliably respond when needed, how to measure performance and value, and how different participants can engage. It must also remain flexible enough to accommodate emerging technologies and capabilities.

Getting this right means establishing clear rules while preserving room for VPPs to evolve with customer technologies. Key challenges include:

Balancing incentive levels that encourage participation while delivering net benefits to all customers; establishing dispatch frequency and duration that meet grid needs without creating customer fatigue or outpacing technology capabilities; and coordinating across multiple evolving load flexibility programs to reliably address both system-wide and localized peaks.

At ComEd, affordability is a daily conversation with customers across northern Illinois. Virtual power plants aren't about technology for its own sake. They're about using existing tools more efficiently to avoid unnecessary costs. By reducing demand peaks, these programs can limit upward pressure on long-term capacity costs—a key driver of customer bills—and broader system costs.

As Illinois develops its broader VPP framework, affordability should remain central to success. Programs should be transparent and results-driven, with clear tracking of participation, measurement of real system impacts, and assurance that created value translates into customer benefits.

Customer technology is becoming essential to the energy system. Realizing its full potential requires collaboration among utilities, regulators, technology providers, and customers, with sustained focus on programs that deliver measurable value while protecting customer choice.

With the right framework, Illinois can expand customer opportunities to participate in the energy system, making their existing technologies work for the broader grid. Illinois has ambitious goals for a cleaner grid balanced with affordability and reliability. Achieving this requires more than large power plants—it requires customer technology as part of the solution, with programs designed to create value, protect choice, and keep affordability front and center.