Tesla partners with PG&E on virtual power plant in California
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- Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has launched a new virtual power plant in partnership with PG&E in California that will pay Powerwalls owners to help stabilize the electric grid and end blackouts in California.
- The new VPP will allow Powerwall owners to opt in to the program and sell their stored electricity back to the grid when it is in need of additional power.
- Powerwall owners who decide to join the program will earn $2 per kilowatt-hour sent back to the grid to help reduce or avoid blackouts.
- Tesla said that it has about 50,000 Powerwalls that could be eligible for this VPP, which add up to a significant energy capacity than can be distributed in any event.
- Last year, Tesla launched a test VPP in California, where Powerwall owners would join in voluntarily without compensation to let the VPP pull power from their battery packs when the grid needed it.