daily · Clean Energy

Google and Voltus expand Bring Your Own Capacity virtual power plant to 1 GW in PJM

Google and Voltus announced an expanded agreement on October 22, 2026 to build a 1 gigawatt virtual power plant across the PJM grid region, adding 1,070 MW of flexible capacity to their initial 100 MW June agreement. Homes and businesses participating in the Bring Your Own Capacity program receive bill savings and direct payments.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 22, 2026 · Updated 10/22/2026

Google and distributed energy resource platform Voltus announced an expanded agreement on October 22, 2026 to build a 1 gigawatt virtual power plant across the PJM Interconnection grid region, one of the largest known distributed capacity portfolios deployed by a hyperscaler to date.

The expansion adds 1,070 megawatts of flexible capacity on top of an initial 100-megawatt agreement the companies signed in June 2026. Under Voltus's Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) program, Voltus aggregates flexible load from local businesses and homes into a Google-funded virtual power plant; when the grid is under strain, participating sites use batteries, smart thermostats, industrial process adjustments and other flexible assets to reduce energy use. PJM serves 67 million customers across 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Participating customers receive financial benefits such as bill savings and direct payments. The companies cited a recent report from The Brattle Group predicting U.S. consumers could save more than $100 billion over the next decade through better grid utilization.

'Expanding our initial commitment tenfold demonstrates our core effort to actively bring our own capacity to the grids that serve us,' said Ellen Zuckerman, Google's head of energy market development for North and South America. Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey said the expansion 'translates data center growth into direct economic benefits for businesses and homes.'

Official source: voltus.co ↗