Summary
Google and Voltus announced an expanded agreement to build a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant across the PJM grid region. It will aggregate flexible energy capacity from homes and businesses to reduce demand during peak periods.
Google and Voltus announced an expanded agreement on Oct. 22, 2026, to build a 1-gigawatt (GW) virtual power plant across the PJM grid region. PJM serves 67 million people across 13 states and Washington, D.C., according to Google. The announcement describes a planned resource, rather than one already reported as operational.
How the virtual power plant is meant to work
Voltus will aggregate flexible capacity from homes and businesses, including smart thermostats, batteries and industrial assets. A virtual power plant coordinates such distributed resources so they can respond together to electricity-system needs; unlike a conventional power station, it need not generate electricity at a single site.
During periods of peak demand, the assets in this project are intended to temporarily reduce energy use to support grid reliability. Google describes the project as a Google-funded virtual power plant. Participating customers are to receive direct economic benefits, including bill savings and cash payments.
What the 1-GW plan represents
The announced 1-GW scale refers to the planned virtual power plant’s capacity: a coordinated pool of flexible resources that can help the grid by lowering demand when needed. That makes the initiative a demand-side approach to grid support, using changes in consumption as well as equipment such as batteries.
The agreement’s practical significance will depend on assembling and coordinating participating resources across the PJM region. Google and Voltus have announced the buildout, but the announcement gives no completion schedule.