Tesla, Sunrun and Renew Home plan to tap
solar panels, batteries, thermostats and other devices installed in millions of
homes to meet the energy demands of artificial intelligence.
·
The
rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is creating a major energy
challenge, as data centers
require huge amounts of electricity while new power generation projects take
years to build.
·
Three
companies—Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home—have proposed a solution using
residential energy resources.
·
The
companies announced a partnership to aggregate energy from millions of homes
and make available enough electrical capacity to support the equivalent of 17
large data centers
during peak demand periods.
·
Their
approach relies on devices such as rooftop solar panels, home batteries, smart
thermostats, water heaters, and other connected energy systems.
·
With
customer consent, software would coordinate these devices to:
o Store excess solar power when supply is
abundant.
o Release stored electricity during periods
of high demand.
o Adjust energy consumption through smart
thermostats and other appliances.
·
This
creates a “virtual power plant” (VPP)—a
network of distributed energy resources that collectively function like a
traditional power plant.
·
Unlike
conventional power plants, VPPs can both generate, store, and manage
electricity demand in real time.
·
According
to Sunrun CEO Mary Powell, such solutions already exist and can be deployed
much faster than building large-scale power infrastructure.
·
Utilities
generally have enough capacity to serve data centers
most of the time, but face shortages during extreme weather events and peak
demand periods.
·
Building
new transmission lines, gas plants, solar farms, or battery facilities can take
years and cost billions of dollars.
·
These
infrastructure costs are often passed on to consumers through higher
electricity bills.
·
The
companies argue that widespread use of home energy devices could reduce or
delay the need for expensive new investments in power generation and
transmission.
·
Similar
virtual power plant programs already operate in states such as California.
·
Energy
policy expert Leah Stokes described the concept as a major shift in how
electricity systems are managed.
·
California’s
existing program has delivered power equivalent to the output of a nuclear
power plant during peak demand periods.
·
Tesla,
Sunrun, and Renew Home claim their national partnership could provide 16
times the capacity of California’s program and could become
operational within months.
·
Renew
Home currently manages approximately 8
million devices across 6 million homes,
providing a large base for scaling the initiative.
·
Consumers
participating in these programs receive financial incentives, including direct
payments and credits on electricity bills.
·
In
2025, Sunrun and Renew Home paid customers approximately $67
million for participating in grid-support
programs.
·
During
a period of high electricity demand last June, Sunrun dispatched energy from
about half of the 130,000 rooftop solar and battery
systems enrolled in its distributed power plant network.
·
These
resources helped support electricity grids in California, New York,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico.
·
The
model could also reduce public opposition to new data centers
and large energy projects by allowing households to benefit financially from
supporting the grid.
·
Data centers can consume as much electricity as a medium-sized
city, and energy demand is expected to grow rapidly as the United States
competes with China in AI development.
·
Some
local governments have already imposed restrictions on new data centers, solar farms, and battery projects due to concerns
over land use and energy consumption.
·
Recently,
federal energy regulators introduced guidelines allowing data centers to connect to power grids more quickly if they
agree to reduce electricity use during periods of grid stress.
·
The
new rules also seek to protect consumers from rising electricity costs by
improving transparency regarding the costs of grid expansion.
The
partnership between Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home aims to address AI-driven
electricity demand through virtual power plants,
which combine millions of household energy devices into a flexible grid
resource. By managing distributed energy storage and consumption, the
initiative seeks to support data center growth,
reduce the need for costly new power infrastructure, and provide financial
benefits to households.
[ABS News Service/24.06.2026]
The
artificial intelligence boom has a big problem. Technology companies say they need
to quickly build lots of new power-hungry data centers
to develop A.I., but the energy industry typically needs years to construct power
plants, solar farms and battery installations.
Three
companies involved in installing and managing rooftop solar panels, home batteries,
smart thermostats and other devices say they can solve the problem by tapping into
devices — largely those that control, produce or store energy — in millions of American
houses and apartments.
The
companies are Tesla, the electric vehicle and battery maker; Sunrun, the country’s
largest rooftop solar and battery installer; and Renew Home, a Google spin off that
manages home thermostats and other devices. On Wednesday, they plan to announce
that they are working together to free up enough electrical capacity to meet the
needs of 17 large data centers during periods of high
demand.
For
example, after getting individuals to opt in, the companies could use software to
direct thousands of the consumers’ home batteries to charge when there is an abundance
of solar energy and then release that power after the sun has set. Making more energy
available in the evening, when demand rises, would reduce or eliminate the need
to add large power plants alongside new data centers.
“It
takes a lot of time to build utility scale solutions,” said Mary Powell, chief executive
of Sunrun, who once ran an electric utility in Vermont. “We’re sitting on top of
solutions right now.”
Utilities
generally have enough spare capacity to serve new data centers
most of the time but not when demand for electricity is very high, including during
heat waves and cold spells. Energy and technology executives have been struggling
for years to figure out how to to power data centers when grids are under strain.
Building
new power lines and energy generators, including natural gas power plants or solar
farms, can take years and cost billions of dollars. And under current federal and
state rules, those costs are typically passed on to everybody who uses electricity,
including individuals, on monthly electricity bills.
Sunrun,
Tesla and Renew Home assert that at least some of that new spending is not needed
or can be put off for years. Home energy devices can effectively be knitted together
to serve as a virtual power plant, in industry jargon. But unlike actual power plants,
such systems can also store or use energy. Thousands of thermostats can be adjusted
by a degree or two to reduce or increase energy use, depending on what is best for
the grid.
Some
states, like California, have programs that already operate along the lines of what
the three companies are proposing. But the companies would need to persuade electric
utilities, grid managers and state regulators across the country to work with them
to hit the goals they have outlined.
“It’s
really a paradigm shift with the way we operate the electricity system,” said Leah
Stokes, an associate professor of political science at the University of California,
Santa Barbara, who specializes in energy and environmental policy. “Maximizing these
smart devices is a huge way to unlock value across the grid.”
Dr.
Stokes said the California program provided the equivalent of a nuclear power plant’s
capacity, or enough to run a large data center. Sunrun,
Tesla and Renew Home said their private partnership could provide 16 times as much
electrical capacity as California’s program across the United States during periods
of high demand and be up and running in months.
“We
have eight million devices enrolled in six million homes,” said Ben Brown, chief
executive of Renew Home, which manages thermostats, water heaters and other devices.
“That itself is such a large scale. It helps the challenge.”
An
added benefit: When the companies tap residential devices, individuals receive cash
payments or credits on their electric bills. Last year, Sunrun and Renew Home paid
individuals $67 million.
Last
June, when electricity demand was high, Sunrun directed about half the capacity
from the 130,000 rooftop solar and home battery systems
enrolled in its distributed power plant program to help grids in California, New
York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.
Enlisting
individuals to help the grid and paying them for it may also help defuse some of
the public anger directed at data centers and large power
projects. In some parts of the country, governments have banned or imposed strict
limits on new data centers, solar farms and large battery
installations.
Data
centers can consume as much electricity as a midsize city.
And some estimates project exponential growth in energy demand from these centers as the United States competes with China to dominate
A.I.
Last
week, a federal energy regulator established guidelines
that would allow data centers to connect to grids faster
if they reduced their use of electricity when the grids were under strain. The guidelines
also aim to protect individuals from rising energy bills by requiring better disclosure
about the costs of new grid investments.