These nonprofits think utilities are elbowing out independent VPP providers. (PV Magazine)
The Open Markets Institute and Mission:data Coalition allege that utilities leverage exclusive control over smart meter data, enabling them to shut out third-party VPP aggregators. In many states, utilities can terminate a VPP provider’s data access “at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever.”
The legal argument: The report frames these practices as monopolistic exclusion and calls on state and federal antitrust enforcers to “pry open” VPP markets.
Another playbook, same impact: This lands days after Minnesota regulators approved Xcel’s $430M utility-owned VPP—the only state with such a model—over objections that it freezes out third-party developers and shifts investment risk to ratepayers.