Very well done and completely in agreement with my conclusion - Advocates for VPP claim one of the benefits is that it can replace an army of power plants. However, you can’t shut down the old power plants until you’re sure the new system actually works under all conditions. If it doesn’t, the lights go out, costs rise, and people get hurt
The issue with VPPs is that they offer relatively minor "efficiency" gains with the negative trade-off of control over individual household energy use.
This is a great article. I like that you talk about the grid being there to support ratepayers, and how that's being flipped around.
As soon as I heard the term VPP a while back, it seemed like a way to cover up the growing weaknesses in the electric grid and delay the blackouts that will come if we continue on the current path.
My utility issues conservation appeals and offers some voluntary programs, such as time-of-use billing and thermostat control. These appeal to my general desire as a person to help out, but I also see the downside.
I usually help during the conservation appeals but have not signed up for anything else.
I have now come to see conservation appeals as also a part of the VPP philosophy. By reducing use during a conservation appeal, I am helping to cover up the weaknesses.
Now, I will continue business as usual during an appeal. We may have a blackout, but this will call attention to the grid issues sooner, rather than later when they are harder to fix. It feels like tough medicine to swallow.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments! It is, unfortunately, tough medicine. Many ratepayers would want to help in an emergency, but when there's an emergency on a regular basis then the grid operators are letting their customers down. The social contract, or the agreement between citizen and utility, citizens and government that rewards this monopoly, is for reliable, affordable, and secure power. By destabilizing the grid (and this is the case in the US, parts of Canada, UK, EU, and Australia) that contract is being broken. Perhaps it is up to citizens to have a conversation with their utility or grid operator and public officials to express this concern. Conservation measures and VPPs are a stop gap, a diversion, and not the fix for unreliability.
I have been hammering on VPPs a couple years now. The fact that VPPs are the darling of the Renewable community should give you pause. Even my Ohio Utility offers a opt-in DR program via my smart thermostat.
Regarding the forced participation, this program by ecobee is an opt-out program, not an opt-in.
America needs to seriously look at Energy Security. The wind and solar systems we all know will not be there when times get critical. How to get around that and have energy for most as it is needed.
I am fearing that one day (9/11/2001) another terrorist organization will have plans to knock out some of our GW power plants or a number of our national grid towers. How will America deal with that?
Community Power Plants. Hundreds of thousands of MW sized Community Power Plants located around the country. These can be natural gas fired where there is the natural gas available, and coal fired in those areas where there is no natural gas. Coal can be brought by rail to site or dropped and delivered to site by truck.
These Community Power Plants can be connected to the grid and provide "smoothing out" as we all know solar and wind can not keep a smooth 60hz.
Not everyone can have a standby generator at their home, but a System like this can be considered to be the next best option.
Want to make these Community Power Plants zero emission? That too is available.
This is such a crock of garbage. VPP is nothing more than another reckless idea that tries to deny the absolute necessity of reliable, affordable, thermal electricity generation. The mere proposal of such a ridiculous idea should have been stopped out like a cockroach!🪳 Excellent reporting, this idea needs to be crushed ASAP! It’s as bad as digital “dollars” so when you’ve had one too many burgers or used too much diesel they can decline your purchasing ability.
I agree with all you say up to your final paragraph. We all need to learn that cold, empty plate of justice sits in front of us because we've evaded reality. The promise of something for nothing carries a very high price.
Right on. But this is mainly a concern for upper class people who can afford to have solar in the first place.
(OK - an exception - those not-so-rich who got bamboozled into renting their rooftop solar)
So, the takeaway here, for those who can afford it, is to make their system off-grid.
To afford a modest system, I'm cutting the cost by more than half by doing it myself. It's a big challenge, since I'm not an electrician, but I'm sure learning a lot.
SunGold Power has smart inverter packages including panels, generators, and batteries integrated to give YOU the choice whether to connect or disconnect from the grid.
Very well done and completely in agreement with my conclusion - Advocates for VPP claim one of the benefits is that it can replace an army of power plants. However, you can’t shut down the old power plants until you’re sure the new system actually works under all conditions. If it doesn’t, the lights go out, costs rise, and people get hurt
https://pragmaticenvironmentalistofnewyork.blog/2026/02/28/virtual-power-plant-misinformation/
The issue with VPPs is that they offer relatively minor "efficiency" gains with the negative trade-off of control over individual household energy use.
This is a great article. I like that you talk about the grid being there to support ratepayers, and how that's being flipped around.
As soon as I heard the term VPP a while back, it seemed like a way to cover up the growing weaknesses in the electric grid and delay the blackouts that will come if we continue on the current path.
My utility issues conservation appeals and offers some voluntary programs, such as time-of-use billing and thermostat control. These appeal to my general desire as a person to help out, but I also see the downside.
I usually help during the conservation appeals but have not signed up for anything else.
I have now come to see conservation appeals as also a part of the VPP philosophy. By reducing use during a conservation appeal, I am helping to cover up the weaknesses.
Now, I will continue business as usual during an appeal. We may have a blackout, but this will call attention to the grid issues sooner, rather than later when they are harder to fix. It feels like tough medicine to swallow.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments! It is, unfortunately, tough medicine. Many ratepayers would want to help in an emergency, but when there's an emergency on a regular basis then the grid operators are letting their customers down. The social contract, or the agreement between citizen and utility, citizens and government that rewards this monopoly, is for reliable, affordable, and secure power. By destabilizing the grid (and this is the case in the US, parts of Canada, UK, EU, and Australia) that contract is being broken. Perhaps it is up to citizens to have a conversation with their utility or grid operator and public officials to express this concern. Conservation measures and VPPs are a stop gap, a diversion, and not the fix for unreliability.
I have been hammering on VPPs a couple years now. The fact that VPPs are the darling of the Renewable community should give you pause. Even my Ohio Utility offers a opt-in DR program via my smart thermostat.
Regarding the forced participation, this program by ecobee is an opt-out program, not an opt-in.
Keep Your Home Comfortable and Community Powered | ecobee https://share.google/9iFPMNNirN6N6QeAO
America needs to seriously look at Energy Security. The wind and solar systems we all know will not be there when times get critical. How to get around that and have energy for most as it is needed.
I am fearing that one day (9/11/2001) another terrorist organization will have plans to knock out some of our GW power plants or a number of our national grid towers. How will America deal with that?
Community Power Plants. Hundreds of thousands of MW sized Community Power Plants located around the country. These can be natural gas fired where there is the natural gas available, and coal fired in those areas where there is no natural gas. Coal can be brought by rail to site or dropped and delivered to site by truck.
These Community Power Plants can be connected to the grid and provide "smoothing out" as we all know solar and wind can not keep a smooth 60hz.
Not everyone can have a standby generator at their home, but a System like this can be considered to be the next best option.
Want to make these Community Power Plants zero emission? That too is available.
This is such a crock of garbage. VPP is nothing more than another reckless idea that tries to deny the absolute necessity of reliable, affordable, thermal electricity generation. The mere proposal of such a ridiculous idea should have been stopped out like a cockroach!🪳 Excellent reporting, this idea needs to be crushed ASAP! It’s as bad as digital “dollars” so when you’ve had one too many burgers or used too much diesel they can decline your purchasing ability.
I agree with all you say up to your final paragraph. We all need to learn that cold, empty plate of justice sits in front of us because we've evaded reality. The promise of something for nothing carries a very high price.
Welcome to George Orwell and 1984. Big Brother is watching!
These concepts to just suck more cash from the public are just immoral.
Excellent Dr. Nemeth - let's get a scheduled podcast to talk about this - It seems like a way to maintain control on consumers -
Right on. But this is mainly a concern for upper class people who can afford to have solar in the first place.
(OK - an exception - those not-so-rich who got bamboozled into renting their rooftop solar)
So, the takeaway here, for those who can afford it, is to make their system off-grid.
To afford a modest system, I'm cutting the cost by more than half by doing it myself. It's a big challenge, since I'm not an electrician, but I'm sure learning a lot.
SunGold Power has smart inverter packages including panels, generators, and batteries integrated to give YOU the choice whether to connect or disconnect from the grid.