Google and Voltus said today that they will expand a planned virtual power plant to 1 gigawatt in the PJM grid region, paying participating customers to temporarily cut electricity use when demand peaks. The project targets a region serving 67 million people in 13 states plus Washington, D.C.
The new agreement is ten times the size of the 100-megawatt deal the companies reached earlier this year. Google is funding the virtual power plant, while Voltus pools flexible capacity from businesses and households in the region.
That capacity comes from equipment including batteries and smart thermostats, alongside industrial assets that can temporarily lower energy consumption. According to the announcement, participating customers will see financial benefits, including lower bills and cash payments, in return for cutting use when demand peaks.
Google says the effort is intended to add capacity to local grids and improve regional electricity reliability and affordability. The company describes the expanded project as among the largest known portfolios of distributed capacity deployed by a hyperscaler so far.
