PG&E Launches Seasonal Aggregation of Versatile Energy (SAVE) Virtual Power Plant Program
Rhea-AI Summary
PG&E (PCG) has launched the Seasonal Aggregation of Versatile Energy (SAVE), a first-of-its-kind virtual power plant program to enhance local grid reliability. The demonstration program will include up to 1,500 electric residential customers with battery storage systems and 400 customers with smart electric panels.
The VPP will operate for up to 100 hours from June through October 2025, focusing on peak demand periods. Working with aggregators Sunrun and SPAN, the program will utilize Tesla's grid services platform and SPAN's Dynamic Service Rating™ technology to manage home energy demand. The program targets areas with potential summer peak overloading, with 60% of participants from disadvantaged or low-income communities.
The initiative is funded through PG&E's Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program, concentrating on the South Bay Area and Central Valley regions. Participating homes will maintain a minimum 20% battery backup reserve for power outages while contributing to grid stability.
Positive
- First-mover advantage in innovative grid management technology
- Program targets high-demand areas, potentially reducing infrastructure costs
- Strategic partnership with established tech companies (Tesla, Sunrun, SPAN)
- Focus on disadvantaged communities (60% participation) may attract ESG investors
- Program could lead to new revenue streams from grid services
Negative
- initial scale (only 1,900 total customers)
- Program requires significant technology investment and coordination
- Success depends on customer adoption and participation
- Short operational window (June-October) may limit program impact
Insights
PG&E's SAVE virtual power plant program represents a strategic investment in grid modernization that merits attention despite its initial scale. This demonstration will leverage 1,500 home battery systems and 400 smart panels to address localized grid constraints during critical summer peaks—essentially creating a distributed power resource from customer-owned assets.
The program's structure is technically innovative, implementing week-ahead dispatch signals to aggregators like Sunrun and SPAN who then optimize residential assets to support grid needs while maintaining customer backup reserves. This approach has several advantages over traditional infrastructure upgrades:
- Potentially lower capital requirements compared to substation or feeder upgrades
- More targeted response to localized constraints in high-load areas
- Creates operational flexibility without building fixed assets
The equity component is noteworthy, with
From an investor perspective, this represents sensible strategic positioning rather than material financial impact. The demonstration scale (just 1,900 customers) means this won't meaningfully affect near-term financials, but success could enable larger implementations, potentially deferring more costly traditional infrastructure investments while improving regulatory relationships.
First-of-its-kind, proactive peak load shifting and shaping program will dispatch residential home batteries and leverage smart home electrical panels to enhance local grid reliability
Working with multiple aggregators and the Demand Side Analytics research team, the demonstration program will include up to 1,500 electric residential customers with battery energy storage systems and up to 400 customers with smart electric panels. The VPP will be dispatched for up to 100 hours from June through October 2025, providing localized support by supplying battery power and load flexibility to selected neighborhoods during local peak demand periods when electric substations and feeder lines approach capacity limits.
"Virtual power plants play a significant role in
SAVE is a demonstration VPP in which PG&E provides participating aggregators, including Sunrun and SPAN, with week-ahead hourly signals informed by grid needs. These hourly signals indicate PG&E's energy capacity needs at a specific day, time, and duration, to allow aggregators to shift participating customers' usage to meet those needs. This innovative VPP will employ newly developed software from Tesla and SPAN to meet these needs.
The neighborhoods in which SAVE will be activated are spread across PG&E's service area, with a concentration of assets in the South Bay Area and the Central Valley. Factors influencing where SAVE is deployed include areas where there is potential for overloading during peak summer hours, where the participating aggregators have a concentration of customers, and where PG&E has determined it can test capabilities across diversified grid needs (varying load shapes). Additionally, SAVE has an explicit eye towards equity, with more than half (
SAVE is being conducted through PG&E's EPIC program, which enables
Sunrun Participation
Sunrun solar-plus-storage systems at customers' homes in Northern and
Sunrun will be responsible for managing battery dispatches, and all enrolled batteries will retain at least
"Customers with home batteries are a solution to alleviating strain on our electric grid," said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. "We're experiencing a fundamental shift as homes are no longer just energy consumers. With storage and solar, they become powerful grid assets, delivering affordable, reliable power exactly when and where it's needed for communities and across the grid."
Sunrun will use an advanced application of Tesla's grid services platform to optimize Powerwall batteries to provide an exact amount of power at specific times to different locations. Similarly, Sunrun will leverage Lunar Energy's artificial intelligence-enabled forecasting through its Gridshare software platform to precisely dispatch various non-Tesla battery types to meet local grid needs.
SPAN Participation
SPAN will enroll customers with smart electric panels at homes in Northern and
SPAN will use its Dynamic Service Rating™ (DSR) capability to shape home energy demand during peak events, ensuring that aggregate energy usage remains within operational limits of PG&E's distribution infrastructure. SPAN customers can use their SPAN Home® App to adjust their preferences to reflect how the SPAN® Panel will manage appliances. As a result, SPAN customers have maximum flexibility to continue using the appliances they need most during peak hours while helping alleviate grid congestion.
"We are excited to participate in the SAVE program with PG&E to show how SPAN homes can contribute to grid resilience and increase the utilization of our existing infrastructure without sacrificing individual comfort," said Arch Rao, founder and CEO of SPAN. "We are uniquely positioned to engage households as partners in grid stability, transforming load growth from a challenge to manage into an asset that benefits all."
To learn more about PG&E's EPIC program and its various projects, visit www.pge.com/epic.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and
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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company
FAQ
How many customers will participate in PG&E's (PCG) SAVE virtual power plant program?
When will PG&E's (PCG) SAVE program operate in 2025?
Which companies are partnering with PG&E (PCG) for the SAVE program?
What percentage of PG&E's (PCG) SAVE program participants are from disadvantaged communities?
What minimum battery reserve will PCG's SAVE program maintain for emergency backup?
