Google 與 Voltus 把 PJM 虛擬電廠容量目標提高至 1 GW

• Google plans big virtual power plant in energy-strapped PJM grid
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As it builds out data centers, the tech firm was already planning to pay Voltus for 100 MW of VPP capacity in the region. It just amped its goal up tenfold.

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Google just upped the ante on its plans to leverage thousands of homes’ energy use to free up space on the grid for data centers.

The tech giant and the California-based firm Voltus announced Thursday that they are going after a gigawatt of virtual power plant capacity in PJM Interconnection, the country’s biggest and most data center-impacted energy market. 

Virtual power plants are essentially networks of homes and businesses whose energy consumption can be controlled via software. Voltus has been in the related demand-response business for nearly a decade, and in 2025 unveiled its ​“bring your own capacity” idea, in which data center developers would pay other utility customers to reduce power use when electricity demand peaks. That could help avoid the need for a massive and expensive buildout of traditional power plants and grid infrastructure to meet computing facilities’ energy demand.

Google is so far the only data center developer that Voltus has publicly partnered with on this approach. Thursday’s announcement builds on an initial 100-megawatt VPP target the companies set in June.

“The first 100 megawatts was always the first bite,” said Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey. ​“We were always looking at how we bring this to scale, because scale is what we need.” 

That’s certainly true in PJM, which has seen the cost of securing enough power to meet peak demands rise more than eightfold in the past few years. That spike is driven by data centers and other ​“large loads,” which PJM forecasts will add 30 to 34 gigawatts of new demand by the early 2030s — a big deal on a system that recently peaked at 162.6 GW. 

Meanwhile, the grid operator has struggled to get new power plants online given its clogged-up interconnection queue. VPPs present a fast and effective alternative — no construction needed.

Voltus already manages more than 9 GW of demand response and virtual power plant capacity across the country. The AI data center boom has made this service much more valuable not just for utilities and grid operators but also for politicians under pressure to combat rising electricity costs. Voltus has targeted 20 GW of capacity by 2030 and raised $225 million earlier this month to fuel its ambitions. 

Guernsey highlighted some key features of the gigawatt of grid-relief capacity Voltus is procuring for Google. Perhaps most important, Voltus is securing commitments from its customers to reduce energy use or supply battery power to meet peak grid needs through 2040, she said. 

That’s a much longer commitment than most demand-response programs ask of their participants, she noted. PJM’s annual capacity auction, which is the primary venue for demand-response providers to earn money, secures resources to be available three years into the future, for example. 

But getting customers to agree to keep delivering their grid service through 2040 benefits both them and Google, Guernsey said. 

Google can show the utilities and state regulators where it has data centers that its distributed capacity will be there for the long haul. And the customers involved can rely on more than a decade of contracted revenues to justify providing flexibility, including making significant investments in installing batteries — a big focus for Voltus since its acquisition of battery startup Brightfield AI in June. 

Guernsey emphasized that the gigawatt of VPP capacity it’s securing for Google is in addition to what Voltus is already bidding into PJM’s capacity market. That’s an important factor for PJM, which manages a grid that delivers power to about 67 million people from Illinois to Virginia. 

Despite the potential, there are still some unanswered questions on the bring-your-own-capacity approach. The first is whether Google and other data center developers can secure enough capacity to offset the increasing strain they’re putting on PJM’s grid. 

Google hasn’t shared a timeline for its gigawatt-scale VPP or details on how the effort will play a role in reducing the impact of particular existing or planned data centers in PJM territory. Ellen Zuckerman, Google’s head of energy market development for North and South America, said in a press release that the new capacity will ​“support regional reliability and deliver direct economic benefits to local communities.” 

But Guernsey stressed that Google has committed to 100% carbon-free capacity from its VPP with Voltus, eschewing the use of fossil-fueled backup generators or other emitting resources. And by paying customers to use less energy or install batteries, she said, Google is ​“creating value for communities, because we’re creating new revenues, we’re helping them save money, and helping deliver energy storage.”

• Virtual power plants
• Corporate procurement
• Data centers

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Jeff St. John is chief reporter and policy specialist at Canary Media. He covers innovative grid technologies, rooftop solar and batteries, clean hydrogen, EV charging, and more.