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Sunrun, Renew Home, and Tesla plan to provide over 16 GW of flexible grid capacity by combining home batteries, smart thermostats, and V2G resources
The distributed energy framework is designed to support rising electricity demand from AI data centers while reducing the need for new grid infrastructure
The companies already have 300 MW of deployable capacity in Virginia and expect this to reach at least 500 MW by 2030, with plans to expand nationwide
Sunrun, Renew Home, and Tesla have announced a strategic agreement to deliver more than 16 GW of flexible electricity capacity by combining distributed energy resources from millions of homes across the US.
The companies said the combined resource could become the largest distributed power plant in the US. It will supply electricity from residential solar-plus-storage systems while shifting household electricity use during periods of peak demand.
The initiative, say the partners, aims to help meet growing electricity demand from AI-driven data centers and large industrial loads while reducing pressure on the existing power grid.
Under the framework, the companies will aggregate ‘hundreds of thousands’ of residential battery systems operated by Sunrun and Tesla, alongside more than 8 million smart thermostats and connected devices managed by Renew Home into virtual power plants (VPPs).
The solution is designed to be deployed within months without requiring additional transmission infrastructure, land, water, or new hardware for customers.
It will free up capacity on the existing grid, easing congestion on the distribution infrastructure. American households will be able to lower their energy bills, earn rewards, and power through outages, they add.
“America’s grid faces mounting pressure from data centers, electrification, and manufacturing growth that no single infrastructure solution can solve fast enough,” said Colby Hastings, Senior Director of Residential Energy at Tesla. “Sunrun, Renew Home, and Tesla believe that a huge piece of the answer is already in place — in the batteries, thermostats, and electric vehicles inside millions of American homes, waiting to be put to work.”
In Virginia, where data center demand is among the highest in the country, the partners said they already have more than 300 MW of capacity available for immediate deployment, and plan to increase this to at least 500 MW by 2030. They also intend to offer more than 1 GW of capacity through PJM’s proposed Reliability Backstop Process, subject to approval.
