The volatility and precarity of fossil fuel markets are on full display as much of the global economy suffers the consequences of geopolitical conflict in the Middle East. The situation quickly becomes untenable in a nation where electricity demand is rising fast, the cost of living is soaring, and deadly fumes from burning oil, gas, and coal continue to pollute our lungs and our environment. The case for deploying reliable clean energy resources is as clear as ever.

While building additional clean energy infrastructure in the form of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and power lines are essential, there are additional tools that must be leveraged to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and support clean energy growth. California, like many states across the nation, is currently sitting on a gold mine of untapped clean energy capacity. 

The only thing better than building a new clean energy power plant is strategically harnessing existing appliances and devices already embedded in our homes and neighborhoods into “virtual power plants” (VPPs). In reality, these power plants are anything but “virtual.” Common distributed energy resources (like rooftop solar panels, home batteries, smart thermostats, heat pump HVAC systems and water heaters, and more) can now be aggregated to work in concert with each other by optimizing energy generation, storage, and usage to reduce electricity demand at peak hours and provide the same services as a traditional power plant.

Utilities, agencies, and third party companies are increasingly getting in on the VPP action, allowing customers to enroll their devices in exchange for payments for the valuable services they’re providing their neighbors, local communities, and society as a whole. VPPs are already flexing their muscles in the Golden State: in July, 2025, over 100,000 residential batteries in a statewide VPP program simultaneously discharged to the grid as part of a coordinated test, which resulted in output equivalent to a mid-size natural gas plant. That’s impressive already, and we’re only starting to scratch the surface of statewide VPP potential. 

It’s time for state leaders to get serious about enabling VPPs to grow in California and beyond. California has been a leader in deploying clean energy resources like solar panels and batteries, but now these resources can do double duty and help the grid even more by participating in VPP programs. By coordinating and multiplying small adjustments in how we generate, store, and use energy across millions of Californian households and businesses, we can simultaneously support clean energy growth, affordability, and community resilience.