CPower Commends Missouri Public Service Commission for Expanding Access to Virtual Power Plants

Following a landslide vote last week, aggregations of commercial and industrial customers are now eligible to contribute to wholesale market demand response programs to drive reliability and lower energy costs

BALTIMORE, Oct. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CPower Energy ("CPower"), the leading, national Distributed Energy Resource (DER) monetization and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) provider, today announced its support of the Missouri Public Service Commission's ("the Commission") decision to spur the development of VPPs in Missouri.  The Commission's Order allows commercial and industrial customers across all of Missouri's investor-owned utilities to work with VPP providers to participate in demand response programs available from the state's two regional grid operators, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and the Southwest Power Pool.

Last week's action follows two years of investigation into the benefits associated with allowing DERs to play a more active role in meeting Missouri's future energy needs with increasing adoption of electric vehicles, renewable energy and grid-interactive smart appliances. CPower actively participated in the proceeding that resulted in the recent Order, and looks forward to working with the Commission and Missouri utilities to continue bringing innovative solutions to customers.

The decision is a win for Missouri's energy users, businesses and utilities as well as the environment. By expanding access to wholesale demand response programs, Missouri will create new revenue streams for businesses while increasing energy reliability by diversifying the types of assets available to respond to the needs of the grid. This in turn will help lower carbon emissions and will help keep energy costs low by helping the state manage its growing energy demand, using customers' demand flexibility to reduce the need to build new energy infrastructure.

"We applaud the Missouri Public Service Commission for its leadership in being the first MISO state with a traditional regulatory model to allow VPP providers and customers to contribute to grid reliability. This is innovation in action as a direct result of advances in public policy," said Peter Dotson-Westphalen, Senior Director – Regulatory & Government Affairs, CPower. "We've worked with many of the utilities in Missouri and in other jurisdictions and look forward to helping them leverage this new tool to deliver enhanced value and energy reliability to Missouri customers."

States across the Midwest are working to develop regulatory frameworks for DERs, such as demand response, in response to potential energy capacity shortfalls in coming years and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 2222. 

"We hope other Midwest states will take a look at what Missouri is doing to unlock the benefits of VPPs. By taking similar steps, the entire region can improve reliability and resiliency and foster a more sustainable and efficient grid across America's Heartland," said Ken Schisler, Senior Vice President – Regulatory & Government Affairs, CPower.

About CPower Energy

CPower Energy is the leading, national DER monetization and virtual power plant provider, creating the Customer-Powered Grid™ that will enable a flexible, clean and dependable energy future. With 6.3 GW of capacity at nearly 20,000 sites across the U.S., we unlock the full value of distributed energy resources to strengthen the grid when and where reliable, dispatchable resources are needed most. CPower is based in Baltimore, Maryland 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.

SOURCE CPower Energy Management