Stem’s virtual power plants take heat off Californian grid

By John Parnell
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
The CAISO control room in Folsom. Image: CAISO.

Stem’s virtual power plants (VPPs) have been utilised to provide emergency demand response services in California during a major heatwave.

The networks, installed at a number of locations throughout the state, were used to meet increasing demand from air conditioning. The anticipated weather event created a spike in day ahead wholesale prices on 19 June, and a need to reduce demand or increase supply.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

The services were provided to the California System Independent System Operator (CAISO) and three utilities.

“Stem proves again and again that we can step up immediately and deliver, right when the state or utility needs help,” said John Carrington, CEO of Stem. “When we are called, our network responds in minutes or less.”

On June 20, Stem provided power to seven strained areas of the network. The aggregated assets dispatched 1.6MW of power within five minutes. During the rest of the week, there were a further 10 dispatches as the heat wave, and its impact on the grid continued.

In California, Stem uses the CAISO Proxy Demand Response (PDR) mechanism to aggregate distributed energy generators, and has been an active participant in the wholesale market over the last three years.

Read Next

July 14, 2025
Two companies, First Phosphate and LG Energy Solution have recently begun manufacturing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in North America.
July 10, 2025
IPP Lydian Energy has successfully closed on a US$233 million project financing for three battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Texas, US.
July 10, 2025
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entered into a settlement agreement with IPP LS Power to direct cleanup after a lithium-ion battery fire at the company’s Gateway energy storage facility in San Diego, California. 
July 9, 2025
A news roundup focusing on TerraFlow’s recent partnership with Storion, JinkoSolar’s deployment of distributed systems in Massachusetts and a credit facility for Lightshift.
Premium
July 9, 2025
Coval Infrastructure has become the latest developer to submit an application with the California Energy Commission (CEC), as part of the regulator’s opt-in certification scheme.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter