On August 23, 2023, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) announced that two Tesla virtual power plants (VPPs) have completed testing and been qualified to participate in wholesale markets managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s grid operator.[1] The two Tesla projects will operate in Houston and Dallas, serviced by CenterPoint Energy and Oncor Electric Delivery, respectively. The Tesla VPPs and six other projects, totaling 7.2 MW, will participate in the Aggregate Distributed Energy Resources (ADER) pilot. The six other projects have completed initial registration steps and are in the commissioning process. The pilot is overseen by ERCOT and was launched after Tesla expressed interest in aggregating Powerwall batteries in the state. Resources participating in the pilot must include “power generation devices,” including battery energy storage systems or generators. They may also include demand response devices like smart thermostats, controllable electric vehicle chargers, or smart water heaters. Under the ADER pilot, energy sources must be under 1 MW each, and the aggregated power plants must be less than 80 MW, enough to power about 16,000 homes during peak demand in ERCOT.

[1] https://ftp.puc.texas.gov/public/puct-info/agency/resources/pubs/news/2023/PUCT_Virtual_Power_Plants_to_Provide_Power_to_ERCOT_Grid_for_the_First_Time.pdf