Canary Media: California could save big if virtual power plants target ​‘sweet spots’

The cost of keeping California’s power grid up and running is skyrocketing, and in turn, so are households’ energy bills. Virtual power plants, which harness the combined power of lots of rooftop solar systems, home batteries, EVs, and smart-home appliances, can help — especially if utilities use them to relieve pressure at counterintuitive ​“sweet spots” on the grid. So finds a new report that examines how the state’s utilities can spend less on new infrastructure by occasionally paying homes and businesses to reduce power use or to inject energy into the system — a concept known as ​“load flexibility.” Think tank GridLab published the study in collaboration with Kevala, a grid-focused data analytics startup. More complex details HERE.