With electricity prices climbing and AI demand accelerating, the grid can’t carry the load without turning millions of homes into active grid assets. (Forbes)
Power costs are rising faster than inflation—up 11% nationally this year, with prices in states like Missouri spiking 37%—and utilities are now treating homes as controllable resources through smart panels, batteries, rooftop solar, and load-shifting software that can stabilize an overstretched system.
Schneider Electric says the missing link is a standards-based platform that lets appliances, chargers, inverters, and storage talk to each other and the utility, enabling real-time orchestration instead of one-way consumption.
Builders and aggregators are already proving the model: Sunrun alone is providing 416 MW of flexible capacity through its VPP programs, giving homeowners lower bills and outage resilience while providing the grid a scalable relief valve.