California’s Tesla Virtual Power Plant (VPP) program has officially hit a new energy capacity milestone.
One of Tesla’s most intriguing and least well-known projects is its VPP program in California, which allows Powerwall owners to get paid for contributing to the grid in coordination with local utilities. Now, as California’s weather has become more erratic in recent months, the program has only increased in popularity and has now hit an energy capacity milestone of over 100MWh.
As initially reported by Sawyer Merrit on Twitter, Tesla’s VPP program is monitored by Lastbulb, which provides monthly updates on the program’s growth in California. Lastbulb’s most recent report, published earlier today, found that the program now contains 6,691 homes and just over 7,400 Powerwalls, adding up to an energy capacity of just over 100MWh. Last year alone, the program contributed 577MWh to the grid.
NEWS: @Tesla‘s virtual power plant (VPP) in California now has the ability to push ~100MWh to the grid in a single event. 6,691 people with ~7,400 Tesla Powerwalls are now in the program. @TeslaSolar
Source: @lastbulb | https://t.co/XCv8IICoTH pic.twitter.com/RxLsN7SZfr
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) April 27, 2023
Since January of this year, the program has already gained more than 2,000 more homes, and with a recent bill being passed in California increasing incentives for energy storage systems, that number is only expected to continue to grow.
Outside of California, the VPP program has made a more conservative expansion, likely due to the intricacy of coordinating with local utilities and the numerous Powerwall customers involved. Currently, the program has also made its way to Texas. Still, with solid demand for Tesla energy products in places like New York and Florida, many anticipate the program to expand to those regions next.
As for consumers, the incentive structures that have pulled in so many buyers in California are often significantly more complex and less lucrative in other states, which has meant, as is typical for Tesla products, they are far more lucrative in the West Coast state. Nonetheless, as more and more people find energy products’ usefulness and cost-saving potential, they could be in for quite the wave of demand in the coming years.
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