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Bay Area Homes Join Virtual Grid
Coverage from Developments Today, Ess News, and others
PG&E, Google, Rewiring America, and technology partners are launching SHARE, a proof-of-concept virtual power plant serving communities in California’s Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
The program will coordinate nearly 21,000 household batteries and smart devices, add battery-enabled heat pumps, and offer eligible customers incentives and potentially lower energy bills. Planned grid support is expected to begin in fall 2026, with performance and customer-impact findings expected by late 2026 or early 2027.
If you read one thing
It provides the clearest, best-supported overview of SHARE’s scale, battery-enabled electrification, grid-capacity goals, and targeted pilot design.
Best explainer
It explains the program’s broader rationale: using coordinated household flexibility to improve Bay Area grid reliability and reduce customer costs.
Residential flexibility is being assembled as grid capacity
SHARE is designed to coordinate up to 21,000 household batteries, smart devices, and battery-enabled heat pumps as a distributed grid resource. The enrolled fleet is expected to provide roughly 12 MW during grid strain, testing whether residential flexibility can reduce pressure on conventional infrastructure.
Electrification is being paired with controllable storage
The program links heat-pump deployment with embedded batteries and coordinated controls rather than treating electrification as a standalone adoption effort. The intended model is to shift consumption toward surplus solar or away from peak periods while potentially lowering household energy costs and emissions.
The model remains a geographically targeted proof-of-concept
SHARE is concentrated in Santa Clara and Alameda counties and is structured to test location-specific grid value where demand is growing and transmission constraints are relevant. Its broader significance still depends on measured performance, customer impacts, and evidence that the model can support or defer conventional infrastructure.
21,000
existing distributed energy resources
“PG&E and Rewiring America expect SHARE to reach approximately 12 MW of capacity by 2028. The program will combine new battery-enabled heat pumps with as many as 21,000 existing distributed energy resources, including Tesla Powerwall batteries and smart home thermostats owned by PG&E customers.”
approximately 12 megawatts
additional capacity during grid strain
“PG&E already works with Sunrun to connect more than 100,000 home batteries. Under the new effort, the utility is working with Sunrun, Tesla and Renew Home to enroll about 20,000 households with existing equipment. Those participants are expected to provide approximately 12 megawatts of additional capacity when the grid is strained.”
about 20,000 households
households targeted for enrollment
“PG&E already works with Sunrun to connect more than 100,000 home batteries. Under the new effort, the utility is working with Sunrun, Tesla and Renew Home to enroll about 20,000 households with existing equipment. Those participants are expected to provide approximately 12 megawatts of additional capacity when the grid is strained.”
more than 100,000 home batteries
batteries connected through Sunrun
“PG&E already works with Sunrun to connect more than 100,000 home batteries. Under the new effort, the utility is working with Sunrun, Tesla and Renew Home to enroll about 20,000 households with existing equipment. Those participants are expected to provide approximately 12 megawatts of additional capacity when the grid is strained.”
12 MW
SHARE capacity
“PG&E and Rewiring America expect SHARE to reach approximately 12 MW of capacity by 2028. The program will combine new battery-enabled heat pumps with as many as 21,000 existing distributed energy resources, including Tesla Powerwall batteries and smart home thermostats owned by PG&E customers.”
The new articles reinforce the existing understanding of SHARE as a roughly 12 MW residential virtual power plant testing location-specific grid support from batteries, heat pumps, and other devices; they add no material change to the Topic.
Previously
PG&E, Google, Rewiring America, and technology partners are launching SHARE, a proof-of-concept virtual power plant serving communities in California’s Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The program will coordinate nearly 21,000 household batteries and smart devices, add battery-enabled heat pumps, and offer eligible customers incentives and potentially lower energy bills. Planned grid support is expected to begin in fall 2026, with performance and customer-impact findings expected by late 2026 or early 2027.