Key Takeaways

  • Platte River Power Authority, a Colorado public power utility, announced last week that it is partnering with EnergyHub to design and deploy a virtual power plant (VPP) to provide dispatchable power to support its growing renewable energy portfolio.
  • "We anticipate that the VPP will be a significant resource," Maia Jackson, communications manager at Platte River, said in an email to Utility Dive.
  • The utility said the first VPP project is expected to launch in late summer, focusing on smart thermostats; electric vehicle charging management is planned for later this year. "These services will be offered through Efficiency Works, a long-standing partnership between Platte River and its owner communities that helps residential and commercial customers use electricity efficiently through assessments, programs, and product rebates," Platte River said.

Deep Dive

Regarding the final size of the VPP, Jackson said it will depend on "the success and cost-effectiveness of our programs, which in turn depends on the response of our vendors, their equipment partners, and our customers." However, she added that Platte River plans to achieve 19 MW of capacity from customer distributed energy resources by 2030, plus 20 MW from four 5 MW battery systems planned for deployment in owner communities.

Platte River provides power to utilities in the Colorado communities of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont, and Loveland. "Platte River has long considered VPPs as part of its strategy to provide [dispatchable power]," the utility said. "While Platte River and EnergyHub signed a formal agreement earlier this month, the teams—along with staff from the owner communities—have been developing the first VPP projects together since last year."

According to the announcement, EnergyHub's platform allows utilities to enroll and manage distributed energy resources (DERs) such as thermostats, electric vehicles, and batteries into VPPs to create grid flexibility. EnergyHub will also provide an "edge" distributed energy resource management system—software that "tracks energy demand from thermostats, EVs, and batteries, enables customer devices to respond to utility signals, and connects behind-the-meter DERs to the broader grid and energy markets."

"VPPs are one of three forms of dispatchable capacity in our current plan to decarbonize the power supply for owner communities by more than 80% and meet the Clean Energy Plan submitted to the state," Jackson said. "Dispatchable capacity in the form of VPPs, along with battery storage and aeroderivative gas turbines, supports the reliability and financial sustainability of an increasingly non-carbon and non-dispatchable (i.e., wind and solar) power supply."