Annual survey of commercial and industrial energy users and renewable project owners and operators provides insights for scaling virtual power plants to reduce carbon emissions

BALTIMORE, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CPower Energy ("CPower"), the leading, national distributed energy resource (DER) monetization and virtual power plant (VPP) provider, today announced the results of its annual Customer-Powered Grid^® Survey. Understanding the drivers of VPP participation is vital to meeting the U.S. Department of Energy's target to triple VPP deployment by 2030, which would improve grid reliability while reducing carbon emissions and saving an estimated $10 billion per year.

"The next few years will be pivotal for VPPs. So, it is critical to understand why large organizations are participating in VPPs and what may be holding them back if they are not," CPower CEO Michael Smith said. "We're bullish on meeting The Department of Energy's target to deploy 80-160 GW of VPPs by 2030 to improve grid reliability. With our Customer-Powered Grid survey, we're able to identify and correct our customers' pain points to increase participation and help accelerate a cleaner and greener VPP-led future."

Energy Strategy Increasingly Linked to Carbon Reduction Goals

The survey found that carbon reduction is a growing motivator for VPP participation as more companies set corporate sustainability goals. Nearly one-third (31%) of respondents stated that their energy management strategy is directly tied to their corporate sustainability or carbon reduction goals. That percentage has gradually increased over the last few years, and the trend continued this year.

In addition, customers with carbon reduction goals tied to energy strategy are nearly 200% more likely to increase hours of participation in VPPs. This indicates that more organizations are likely to participate in VPPs as they set sustainability goals in response to consumer pressure and new reporting mandates such as the SEC climate disclosure rule.

VPPs help reduce carbon emissions by avoiding the use of fossil fuel peaker plants and leveraging distributed, customer-owned renewable and storage assets to benefit the wider grid. Across the U.S., CPower manages nearly 7 GW of flexible DER capacity, equivalent to not turning on 134 peaker plants when demand cannot meet supply. In one year alone, CPower helped its customers reduce 375,000 metric tons of CO2 across sectors such as retail, data centers, education, healthcare, government and manufacturing, by participating in VPPs.

Lowering Energy Costs and Increasing Revenue Remains a Strong Motivator

While the survey revealed the growing importance of carbon reduction as a motivator, approximately 80% of respondents said they would be likely to increase their participation in VPPs if the right incentives were in place. When asked to clarify what type of incentives would motivate them, seven of 10 respondents indicated that receiving revenue or reducing energy costs would help.

Those were the same preferences in the CPower's 2023 customer survey results, thereby validating that energy cost savings and revenue are the strongest incentives for encouraging additional hours of participation. The barriers also remain the same, with respondents citing impact on operations, customers and employees as the primary barriers to participating in VPPs. Increased adoption of DER resources will continue to lower barriers and increase customer flexibility.

CPower manages more VPP capacity than any other provider in the U.S. The Customer-Powered Grid Survey received approximately 500 responses from CPower customers, which include Fortune 500 companies, other large energy users, DER owner and operators and partners.

About CPower Energy
CPower Energy is the leading, national distributed energy resource (DER) monetization and virtual power plant provider, creating the Customer-Powered Grid^® that will enable a flexible, clean and dependable energy future. With 6.7 GW of capacity at more than 27,000 sites across the U.S., we unlock the full value of DERs to strengthen the grid when and where reliable, dispatchable resources are needed most. CPower is based in Baltimore, Md., and is owned by LS Power, a development, investment and operating company focused on the power and energy infrastructure sector. For more information, visit: www.cpowerenergy.com.

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SOURCE CPower Energy