Sunrun, America’s leading residential installer, has announced a widely intriguing agreement to bring its residential storage-plus-solar systems in the PJM and MISO grid regions to create a distributed power plant specifically for AI hyperscalers.
The multi-year agreement is between Sunrun and Voltus, a distributed energy resource platform, which offers what it calls a “Bring Your Own Capacity” program. It announced the solution in 2025, and billed the concept as helping hyperscalers bring capacity to the grid to boost their chances of an interconnection for a new data center.
In doing so, Voltus says it orchestrates flexible distributed resources, from batteries to smart thermostats, to reduce energy demand when the grid needs it. In turn, participating homes and businesses get paid, and reducing peak demand helps with new capacity for the system overall. In short, decrease demand when it’s needed, and get thanks from the grid in cash.
It’s a virtual power plant program (VPP) by another name, but the specific targeting could result in better deals for homeowners. That may further change the equation on the return on investment (ROI) for those looking at installing batteries at their home, though details were limited when it came to kilowatts and dollars and cents. Sunrun focuses almost exclusively on the residential market, but Voltus also targets the commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors.
For now, the press release was highlighting what it called the “first-ever” achievement of a behind-the-meter residential wholesale capacity resource for AI hyperscalers.
“Meeting growing energy demand requires us to maximize every single electron available across the country,” said 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.”
“BYOC is about turning distributed resources into capacity the grid can count on, and maximizing value for the end user,” said 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.”
Highly active sector tackles AI’s energy demands
Voltus already has demand from the hyperscalers. Back in June, Google announced it had signed a three-year deal with Voltus as part of the BYOC scheme for up to 100 MW of electricity capacity to help power its new data centers in the PJM region, the data center capital of the world. In essence, Google gave the virtual power plant program (VPP) a bankroll to find flexible resources.
At the time, Michael Terrell, global head of Advanced Energy at Google, said: “Google is committed to ensuring that our energy growth translates into a more reliable, affordable electricity future for local communities.”
Meanwhile, Sunrun, Tesla, Renew Home had announced plans for 16.8 GW VPP in June, and other players in the C&I VPP space include Uplight, CPower Energy and Enel North America. On the distributed resource side, Enphase Energy spoke with ESS News at the start of the year with this concept in mind, as it counted its capacity and weighed options for both it and customers earning a return on their connected batteries.
Compensation?
For homeowners and businesses looking to participate, the initial announcements didn’t provide guides or examples of possible compensation or when it starts. Already, these sectors may have been investing in solar-plus-storage or standalone storage to improve their electricity bills, possibly generate revenue, and do their part for clean energy. Now, batteries are looking more like a stack of cash just waiting to be unlocked than ever before.
Based on the Voltus website and its own case studies, it suggests that in the particularly lucrative state of New York’s Distributed Energy Resource Participation Model, a business could earn “$586,000/MW-year in revenue and savings by supporting grid stability.”
However, few examples are given for homeowners. Size will matter when it comes to battery power and capacity and there may be some looking at overbuilding capacity for their homes to take advantage, or tying in electric vehicles that have the capability of offering vehicle-to-grid tech. With the benefits of distributed storage becoming larger, more companies are offering ways for homes to obtain them as well.
Just days ago, Tesla unveiled a zero-down Powerwall lease program in the US, and the high-flying Base Power offers Texas-based homeowners a US-made 39.2 kWh battery for $695 install fee, $19/mo
monthly membership fee.
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