A viable option with many benefitsA May
Virtual power plants reduced more than 1.8 gigawatt hours of energy demand over the summer of 2023 among customers of ISO New England, said Mark Dyson, managing director of carbon-free electricity at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Denver-based environmental nonprofit focused on energy use and production.Dyson said virtual power plants could help reduce annual spending on power by $17 billion by 2030.
To that point, research shows virtual power plants can offer additional capacity during peak electricity demand and help replace"peaker plants," facilities deployed only when power grids cannot keep up with energy demands. Peaker plants run on fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, and emit carbon dioxide that can worsen climate change.