Voltus, a leading distributed energy resource (DER) platform, and Google announced an expanded agreement on October 22, 2026, to build a 1 gigawatt (GW) virtual power plant (VPP) in the PJM grid region. The deal is designed to unlock new capacity and deliver savings for customers.

A Tenfold Expansion

The announcement builds on an initial agreement signed in June 2026, under which Google and Voltus committed to deliver 100 megawatts (MW) of flexible power capacity in PJM, a grid operator that serves 67 million customers across 13 states and the District of Columbia. Today's announcement of an additional 1,070 MW of capacity represents one of the largest known distributed capacity portfolios deployed by a hyperscaler to date.

How the Virtual Power Plant Works

As with the first agreement, Voltus will aggregate new capacity from local businesses and homes into a Google-funded virtual power plant. When the grid is under strain, Voltus signals those sites, which can then use batteries, smart thermostats, industrial process adjustments, and other flexible assets to reduce energy use.

Voltus then delivers financial benefits, such as bill savings and direct payments, to participating customers. According to the companies, this structure turns Google's capacity demand into real economic benefits for PJM customers. A recent report from The Brattle Group predicts that U.S. consumers could save more than USD 100 billion over the next decade through better grid utilization.

Bringing Their Own Capacity

"Distributed energy resources are powerful tools for managing a modern, reliable grid while keeping energy affordable," said Ellen Zuckerman, head of energy market development for North & South America at Google. "Expanding our initial commitment tenfold demonstrates our core effort to actively bring our own capacity to the grids that serve us. Procuring this capacity through a gigawatt-scale virtual power plant ensures Google's operations in PJM support regional reliability and deliver direct economic benefits to local communities."

Zuckerman's reference to bringing capacity to the grids that serve Google reflects the Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) model that underpins the partnership. Voltus's BYOC program brings new flexible capacity to the grid, allowing the company's commercial and industrial customers and DER partners to generate value by letting Voltus maximize the value of their flexible load, distributed generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, and electric vehicle resources in electricity markets.

Data Center Growth and Local Benefits

"This significant expansion of our work with Google translates data center growth into direct economic benefits for businesses and homes," said Dana Guernsey, CEO of Voltus. "Through this partnership, we are proud to bring much-needed clean capacity online, at gigawatt scale."

The framing from both companies positions the deal as a way to align the growing electricity demands of data centers with regional grid reliability. Rather than adding demand to PJM without offsetting contributions, Google is funding capacity that is aggregated from distributed sources across the region.

A Rapidly Expanding Partnership Portfolio

The Google agreement sits within a broader stretch of activity for Voltus. In June 2026, the company announced its original first-of-its-kind agreement with Google to aggregate up to 100 MW of accredited distributed capacity in PJM and channel grid investment to homes and businesses.

Earlier the same month, Voltus acquired Brightfield AI to accelerate energy storage deployment, integrating a battery development platform and a team of distributed storage veterans.

The company also expanded its senior leadership team in June, adding industry-veteran product and marketing leaders, including Arielle Bertman as Vice President of Product and Jess Gunter as Vice President of Marketing.

Subsequent announcements have continued to build out the company's capacity pipeline. In August 2026, Sunrun agreed to supply Voltus with energy capacity for AI hyperscaler agreements, with Voltus tapping Sunrun's solar-plus-storage systems to deliver immediate BYOC megawatts to AI hyperscalers across the PJM and MISO regions. In September 2026, Siemens and Voltus partnered to help commercial building operators generate virtual power plant revenue by integrating Voltus's energy monetization capabilities with Siemens's building-side intelligent controls and services.

In October 2026, Voltus raised USD 225 million to make flexibility foundational to the grid, announcing that it expects to scale to 20 gigawatts by 2030 as it advances its BYOC program and grows its base of connected batteries.

About the Companies

Voltus is a DER technology platform and virtual power plant operator connecting distributed energy resources to electricity markets, with the aim of delivering less expensive, more reliable, and more sustainable electricity. Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., plays a role in the daily lives of billions of users through products and platforms including Search, Maps, Gmail, Android, Google Play, Google Cloud, Chrome, and YouTube, and has a stated mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

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