Representative Kathy Castor Introduces ON-DEMAND Act to Promote Virtual Power Plants
U.S. Representative Kathy Castor has introduced H.R. 11012, known as the Optimizing Networks for Distributed Energy Management and New Demand (ON-DEMAND) Act. This bill aims to direct the Department of Energy (DOE) to facilitate the broader adoption and integration of virtual power plants (VPPs) across the United States. VPPs are defined as coordinated groups of smaller, distributed energy resources such as battery storage, rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats, which can be managed collectively to support the electric grid. The proposed legislation mandates several actions from the DOE, including convening stakeholder meetings with utilities, regulators, researchers, and consumer groups to identify barriers to VPP expansion. Additionally, the DOE would be tasked with studying these barriers, developing model standards and best practices for VPP design and operation, and creating communication and cybersecurity protocols in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technol...
