Power throuple: The country’s biggest home energy providers (Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home) are linking up their “hundreds of thousands” of home batteries and over 8M smart thermostats to inject much-needed capacity into the grid. The goal? Funnel that power to 17 large data centers during peak demand—no interconnection required.
First steps: In PJM, the companies said they’ve got over 300 MW ready to go ASAP. By 2030, that figure could surpass 500 MW. They also said they could “unlock over a gigawatt of capacity today” for PJM’s proposed Reliability Backstop Process. Beyond that, the trio is “capable of building multiple gigawatts of additional capacity across the country,” according to a Sunrun statement.
What’s in it for ratepayers? The massive network will benefit residential customers, too, the companies said, through “savings and rewards” for households...though they offered scant details on what those might look like.
While we’re talking capacity: The US energy storage market will nearly quadruple to 655 GWh by 2031, Wood Mac predicts.
Molly Glick
Energy Central Team
Thu, Jun 25