Google is taking its virtual power plant (VPP) strategy a step further, under a new program announced with California utility PG&E.
Called Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency (SHARE), the program assembles an ecosystem of distributed energy companies to install new home energy systems and aggregate existing devices.
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The systems are brought together to create a virtual power plant — a network of energy devices, such as batteries, solar panels and smart thermostats, that perform like a single power plant in service to the grid.
The idea is to allow households to benefit from the US’ growing demand for electricity. The households become an energy resource and receive compensation.
This comes as tech companies search for ways to offset their impact on the US electric system and ease community opposition
Google’s second VPP Splash
For Google, it’s the second foray into a high-profile virtual power plant project in recent months.
In June, the tech giant signed on to a similar program with VPP company Voltus — a three-year effort to create a 100-MW “bring your own capacity” project to PJM, the largest US grid operator, serving the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midwest and South.
With Google funding, Voltus aggregates existing batteries, smart thermostats and other flexible resources from homes and businesses into a VPP. Customers receive compensation for participating. Flexibility already sitting on the grid becomes accredited capacity that can help accommodate Google’s data center growth.
Unlike the Voltus program, SHARE uses Google’s money to add distributed resources in homes. Google will fund free or discounted upgrades for nearly 500 homes, including battery-enabled heat pumps and whole-home batteries.
SHARE will also enroll nearly 21,000 existing flexible devices via work done with PG&E Tesla, Sunrun and Renew Home.
Rewiring America has been promoting the idea of using households as energy infrastructure to reduce the need for more expensive conventional grid investments, as described by Energy Changemakers in this article.
May expand to businesses later
PG&E sees the program as a way to add grid capacity during periods of high demand, support reliability and help accommodate economic growth.
The utility is running the program as a proof of concept for households in two California counties — Alameda and Santa Clara. It may later expand the program beyond residential customers to commercial, industrial, and utility-scale applications.
PG&E and Rewiring America will begin reaching out to eligible households starting in fall 2026. SHARE is expected to run through 2027, with initial results released in late 2026 or early 2027.
SHARE partners listed so far include PG&E, Rewiring America, Google, Carrier Global Corporation, Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home, Demand Side Analytics, encoord and Olivine.
