As the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas. That certainly now extends to the Lone Star State’s virtual power plants, known as VPPs.
Renew Home and NRG Energy announced plans to build a one gigawatt (GW) virtual plant capable of powering around 200,000 households during peak demand, as Interesting Engineering detailed.
That will make it the nation’s biggest of its kind, Canary Media noted. The key to the virtual plant is smart thermostats that leverage AI to proactively optimize energy usage.
Nest and Vivint thermostats automatically preheat and precool ahead of when grid demand peaks. That enables Texans to save energy and pay less in heat waves and cold snaps, per Canary Media. It also reduces energy usage during peak demand, which enhances grid resilience.
To launch the program, Renew Home and NRG will distribute hundreds of thousands of the smart thermostats at no cost with free, professional installation for eligible customers.
“As rapid population growth and weather events create new challenges for meeting demand in ERCOT (Electricity Reliability Council of Texas), VPPs can deliver a reliable, flexible and dispatchable energy resource,” said Renew Home CEO Ben Brown in a news release.