For the second year in a row, Sunrun is demonstrating how uniquely capable, reliable and readily available its solar-plus-storage systems are as an essential grid solution. In the summer of 2023, Sunrun’s Peak Power Rewards program supplied Pacific Gas and Electric Company up to 32 megawatts of power during evening peak hours from 8,500 customers’ batteries. This summer, Sunrun is expected to roughly double that capacity and participant number for the statewide Demand Side Grid Support program.
Designed and administered by the California Energy Commission, the Demand Side Grid Support program is part of California’s Strategic Reliability Reserve which aims to boost energy supplies during heat waves, wildfires and other extreme events. As the tens of thousands of enrolled batteries from aggregators stabilize the grid, the risk of rolling blackouts is reduced.
“A Sunrun customer’s battery just got more rewarding in California,” Powell said. “A typical customer won’t even notice that they’re sharing their stored power to bolster the grid while getting compensated for doing so. As a storage-first company, we are all about stacking benefits to provide the most value to our customers, communities and grid partners.”