Sunrun, Voltus expand distributed generation partnership for AI hyperscalers
Residential solar and storage firm Sunrun has announced a partnership with distributed energy resource supplier Voltus Inc. as the two aim to strengthen grid resilience and supply power to AI hyperscalers.
Under the terms of the new deal, Sunrun will provide energy capacity from just a portion of its “thousands” of residential solar and storage systems, officials say. That capacity will support Voltus’s Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) programs, which benefit AI hyperscalers, allowing the grid to operate under less strain during peak hours.
The agreement essentially functions as a VPP, utilizing Sunrun’s electrical utility reach across the PJM and MISO grid regions of the U.S. These two grid areas cover much of the American Midwest and Great Lakes regions, and reach into select southern states. In total, the two grid areas supply power to more than 100 million people across the U.S.
“Meeting growing energy demand requires us to maximize every single electron available across the country,” says Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. “In collaboration with Voltus, we are providing critical capacity from home batteries supported by funding from hyperscalers. This is just the beginning of what distributed energy assets can achieve.”
The move comes as a response to the consistent levels of grid strain across America in recent months and years, thanks to the advent of AI data centers and continued utility electrification. The two firms say their agreement will have more benefits than simply helping the energy grid, however.
Turning power into community investment
Under the terms of the new deal between Sunrun and Voltus, the latter will be able to orchestrate groups of distributed resources and feed them back to the grid, including devices like residential battery systems or smart thermostats. Homes and businesses will get paid for participating as well, according to Sunrun officials, which can help channel investment into the communities PJM and MISO serve.
“BYOC is about turning distributed resources into capacity the grid can count on, and maximizing value for the end user,” says Dana Guernsey, CEO of Voltus. “This partnership brings together Sunrun’s residential scale with Voltus’s market-integrated flexibility platform so distributed capacity can support reliability, affordability, and growth as electricity demand increases.”
The collaboration also builds on other residential-focused programs enacted by Sunrun, representatives say. The company recently partnered with Renew Home and Tesla to help unlock more than 16.8 GW of power in the form of residential solar, batteries, EVs, and other devices.
The companies say that their efforts are working to help demand the ever-growing electrical demand of data centers across the U.S. In return, PJM and MISO customers will see a cut from their normal monthly utility bills as they help those utilities to power hyperscalers with fast, renewable energy.
