Voltus is expanding its virtual power plant (VPP) with a tech giant, branded GoogleWatts, to 1 GW within the PJM grid interconnection.
Distributed energy aggregator Voltus and hyperscale technology company Google are expanding their virtual power plant (VPP) agreement tenfold, a sign of their confidence that VPP capacity can help relieve grid constraints in the PJM Interconnection.
The companies are expanding the deal to more than 1 GW of distributed energy capacity aggregated into VPPs in PJM, the nation's largest grid system, which covers 13 eastern states and the District of Columbia. Virtual power plants use control and software systems to coordinate generation and demand from dozens, hundreds or even thousands of distributed energy sites, helping the grid meet peak demand or supply shortages.
"Voltus will aggregate new capacity from local businesses and homes into a Google-funded Virtual Power Plant," Voltus said in its announcement. "When the grid is under strain, Voltus signals those sites, which then can use batteries, smart thermostats, industrial process adjustments and other flexible assets to reduce energy use."
The original Google-funded deal, a 100-MW VPP, was described as "first of its kind." It was designed to aggregate 100 MW of distributed energy from local homes and businesses, with participants receiving financial benefits.
Google is a major data center energy customer worldwide. PJM faces future resource adequacy challenges as AI and cloud-based supercomputing load grows, particularly in northern Virginia, which has the highest density of data center capacity in the U.S.
"Distributed energy resources are powerful tools for managing a modern, reliable grid while keeping energy affordable," said Ellen Zuckerman, head of energy market development for North & South America at Google. "Expanding our initial commitment tenfold demonstrates our core effort to actively bring our own capacity to the grids that serve us. Procuring this capacity through a gigawatt-scale virtual power plant ensures Google's operations in PJM support regional reliability and deliver direct economic benefits to local communities."
Many data centers include on-site power capacity, such as backup generators, battery storage, internal HVAC systems, smart meters and renewable energy resources. These generation assets can include microgrid-controlled systems.
Utilities and data center developers are racing to secure additional gigawatts of generation to meet anticipated future demand from AI and cloud-based computing. VPP advocates argue that the technology can tap distributed energy resources (DERs), including distributed generation, smart thermostats, advanced metering and batteries, which are not always used efficiently.
"This significant expansion of our work with Google translates data center growth into direct economic benefits for businesses and homes," said Dana Guernsey, CEO of Voltus. "Through this partnership we are proud to bring much needed clean capacity online, at gigawatt scale."
PJM operates a competitive wholesale energy market in which the grid operator compensates DER participants for services such as demand response, frequency regulation and capacity provision.
A March 2026 report from researchers at The Brattle Group found that more efficient and broader use of existing U.S. power assets could save $100 billion in electricity costs over the next decade. The "Untapped Grid" report was commissioned by the Utilize Coalition, whose members include Google, Tesla, Carrier, Renew Home, GridLab and several other advanced energy technology companies.