{"id":8612,"date":"2026-01-15T13:41:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/?p=8612"},"modified":"2026-01-15T13:41:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:41:06","slug":"cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/","title":{"rendered":"CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2026\"
\nAs the U.S. grid braces for another year of rapid load growth,\u00a0the conversation around energy flexibility is shifting from possibility to necessity. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and\u00a0demand response\u00a0are\u00a0assuming\u00a0larger roles, not because\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0trendy, but because the grid can no longer function reliably without them.\u00a0With energy costs climbing, VPPs are one of the few solutions that deliver\u00a0<\/span>immediate, measurable value\u00a0<\/span><\/i>for\u00a0both\u00a0customers and grid operators\u00a0–\u00a0no decadelong infrastructure project\u00a0required.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several\u00a0CPower executives shared\u00a0their take on\u00a0what lies ahead for VPPs and the energy industry\u00a0in 2026.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Glenn Bogarde, Chief\u00a0Sales\u00a0and Marketing Officer<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Affordability becomes the driver of VPP growth.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

In 2026, VPPs will be discussed less as a shiny innovation and more as one of the fastest, lowest-risk tools for cushioning customers from rising system costs because they can reduce peak-driven energy purchases and defer or avoid infrastructure spending.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Policymakers and regulators will be pulled toward such solutions that show up quickly on bills, making demand response and VPP-style aggregation politically attractive compared with long-lead generation and infrastructure buildout projects. Programs will be pushed to show measurable, verifiable cost impacts, not just participation numbers, so affordability claims hold up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDispatch fatigue\u201d will rise, making subtle, automated controls more important.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Customer experience will become inseparable from performance as tighter markets drive more dispatch activity. VPP providers will lean on automation and subtle building-control adjustments, like HVAC and lighting setpoints, so customers experience less disruption than with blunt curtailments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Customers will turn to external experts to effectively manage energy assets in increasingly complex environments.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Recognizing that\u00a0<\/span>grid stress is mounting<\/span><\/a>, one of customers\u2019 primary goals will be to deploy solutions that de-risk the energy used in their core operations, protecting against the worsening of the quality or supply of available electricity. So, customers will lean on demand-response aggregators for education,\u00a0sourcing\u00a0and support to improve operational resiliency and unlock the value of their on-site energy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Mathew Sachs, Chief Strategy Officer<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal \u201cmomentum\u201d will keep rising, but it won\u2019t immediately translate into a single national VPP rulebook.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal momentum will\u00a0build\u00a0in 2026, but the likeliest near-term action is\u00a0targeted\u00a0attention on data centers and other large loads, where flexibility solutions increasingly include demand response and VPP-style aggregation. At the same time, major progress\u00a0on FERC Order 2222 is not expected, keeping the \u201cnational framework\u201d conversation more aspirational than operational\u00a0this\u00a0year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data-center interconnection fights will pull demand flexibility into the \u201cmust-have\u201d solution set in many regions.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Expect more proceedings and policy narratives that explicitly connect large-load additions to demand response and VPP-style flexibility, following the direction already\u00a0emerging\u00a0in \u201clarge load\u201d discussions. The center of gravity will shift from \u201cshould we do VPPs?\u201d to \u201cwhat performance commitments do we need to approve load growth responsibly?\u201d This dynamic will elevate curtailment and flexible load as non-negotiable tools, not optional add-ons, because no serious proposal is showing up without them\u00a0in systems\u00a0where peak loads occur for only\u00a0a very limited\u00a0number of hours each year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Private VPPs will emerge as an accelerator of speed-to-power for data centers.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VPPs are among the most\u00a0<\/span>powerful near-term levers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to unlock latent grid hosting\u00a0capacity and\u00a0can be used in combination with onsite flexibility, grid\u00a0expansion\u00a0and other tools to keep power plentiful and affordable for data centers.\u00a0However, there are no known examples of\u00a0data center-sponsored\u00a0private VPPs operating today. Key hurdles\u00a0will be at the forefront of industry conversations in the coming year, including\u00a0utility\u00a0appetite and the ability to meet the gigawatt scale of new projects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ken Schisler, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

States will write the \u201cspeed-to-power\u201d playbook for VPPs.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Federal interest in VPPs is real, but the rules that\u00a0determine\u00a0what can scale, such as program design, retail incentives, distribution coordination and customer participation pathways, will keep shifting at the state level in 2026.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0because load growth is becoming an economic-development issue as much as a grid\u00a0issue,\u00a0and\u00a0states can move faster than a national framework. With\u00a0<\/span>BloombergNEF\u00a0now projecting U.S. data-center power demand could reach 106 GW by 2035<\/span><\/a>, state regulators will increasingly treat VPPs as a near-term pressure valve to bridge the gap between demand growth and long-lead infrastructure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cseams\u201d between wholesale markets and state utility programs become a bigger story.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In ISO-New England,\u00a0especially, the interface between ISO programs and state-jurisdictional utility programs can be where value is\u00a0lost and\u00a0where 2026 improvements can unlock more reliable participation. Expect more attention on harmonizing rules, avoiding conflicting signals to\u00a0customers\u00a0and making programs stack cleanly without double-counting or compliance headaches.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not glamorous, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0exactly the kind of plumbing fix that enables real scale.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Major markets (especially PJM and ERCOT) will move from pilots to address market mechanics.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ERCOT\u2019s\u00a0Aggregate Distributed Energy Resource (ADER)\u00a0pilot\u00a0project\u00a0created an\u00a0on-ramp\u00a0for aggregated resources. The direction of travel in 2026 will be\u00a0pressure\u00a0to translate that into scalable, repeatable participation, especially as Texas grapples with fast load growth and reliability expectations. In PJM, the story is less \u201cdemand response\u00a0is shrinking,\u201d and more \u201ccrediting rules are evolving,\u201d with reforms like deliverability windows and ELCC\u00a0methodology\u00a0becoming the battleground for how much flexible load counts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about VPPs and how CPower can turn your flexible energy into revenue while improving grid reliability and increasing energy resiliency, call us at 844-276-9371 or visit\u202f<\/span><\/i>CPowerEnergy.com\/contact<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the U.S. grid braces for another year of rapid load growth,\u00a0the conversation around energy flexibility is shifting from possibility to necessity. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and\u00a0demand response\u00a0are\u00a0assuming\u00a0larger roles, not because\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0trendy, but because the grid can no longer function reliably without them.\u00a0With energy costs climbing, VPPs are one of the few solutions that deliver\u00a0immediate, measurable … Continue reading CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content"],"yoast_head":"\nCPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative - CPower Energy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative - CPower Energy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the U.S. grid braces for another year of rapid load growth,\u00a0the conversation around energy flexibility is shifting from possibility to necessity. Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and\u00a0demand response\u00a0are\u00a0assuming\u00a0larger roles, not because\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0trendy, but because the grid can no longer function reliably without them.\u00a0With energy costs climbing, VPPs are one of the few solutions that deliver\u00a0immediate, measurable … Continue reading CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CPower Energy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cpowerenergymanagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T18:41:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-Energy-Trends.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CPower\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpowerenergy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpowerenergy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CPower\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CPower\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/#\/schema\/person\/522ff885a3946b894cac2d8c7f8910bd\"},\"headline\":\"CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-15T18:41:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\"},\"wordCount\":911,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-Energy-Trends.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Content\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cpowerenergy.com\/cpowers-2026-energy-trends-forecast-virtual-power-plants-go-from-advantage-to-imperative\/\",\"name\":\"CPower\u2019s 2026 Energy Trends Forecast: Virtual Power Plants Go from Advantage to Imperative - 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