(Credit: DOE)

CPower, a Distributed Energy Resource (DER) monetization and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) provider, and EnergyHub, a grid-edge flexibility and VPP provider to utilities and markets, have launched a new residential VPP partnership. It’s available to 1.2 million Ameren Illinois customers in more than 1,200 communities across Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the U.S. Midwestern grid operator.

Ameren and other utilities in the Midwest are expanding VPP programs to help MISO manage increasing electricity demand by utilizing a growing base of distributed energy resources.

Through the partnership, Ameren Illinois customers with in-home smart thermostats across central and southern Illinois can enroll in EnergyHub’s Bring Your Own Thermostat program with CPower acting as the VPP’s market participant for MISO. The program provides participants with a $50 enrollment incentive via gift card and an additional $25 annually to customers who opt-in to help ensure grid reliability during summer peaks.

“As adoption of smart devices like connected thermostats, electric vehicles, and batteries accelerates, consumers have an important role to play in the future of our energy system,” said Erika Diamond, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions at EnergyHub. “Our partnership with CPower enables Ameren customers to contribute to a clean, distributed energy future and rewards them for their contributions to the grid.”

“We’re excited to partner with EnergyHub to expand our residential portfolio and further support grid reliability across North America,” said Glenn Bogarde, Senior Vice President of Sales at CPower. “Grid operators in the Midwest are increasingly recognizing the many ways in which VPPs help create a cleaner, more reliable grid and we’re proud that innovation at the residential level is playing a more vital role in VPP success.”

Many states are starting to explore VPP deployment, often seen as a cost-effective way to increase capacity. Most VPPs exist in the form of demand response programs. The Department Of Energy (DOE) released a report last year stating that large-scale deployment of VPPs “could help address demand increases and rising peaks at lower cost than conventional resources, reducing the energy costs for Americans — one in six of whom are already behind on electricity bills.”