WaPo: “Around the state of Texas, Octopus and other power companies raised thermostats, paused electric car chargers and tapped into home batteries in thousands more of their customers’ homes. They also paid stores, data centers and office towers to shut off lights and air conditioners and slow down their computers.
All told, Texas utilities made 2.6 gigawatts of electricity demand disappear in the critical moments when the grid was in crisis — the equivalent of a large nuclear power plant.
That’s why programs like this one are called “virtual power plants.”
Experts say theywill be crucial for helping the United States clean up the electric grid without facing blackouts — and without waiting years for new power plants and transmission lines to go through permitting and construction.
“They can be deployed very quickly using [devices] that are already in people’s garages or on people’s rooftops or in people’s basements,” said Mark Dyson, a managing director in the electricity program at the clean energy think tank RMI.”