DTE Energy and sonnen have launched Michigan’s first residential battery virtual power plant (VPP) pilot at Veridian at County Farm, a carbon-neutral community in Ann Arbor developed by Thrive Collaborative.
The two-year pilot, approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), will connect nearly 100 homes through sonnen battery systems and VPP technology.
DTE will use the pilot to evaluate how coordinating home batteries as a grid resource could help meet growing energy demand, lower costs, and improve reliability. The approach fits recent MPSC recommendations encouraging greater use of distributed energy resources and existing assets to reduce costs for Michigan families.
“This pilot is an opportunity to test an approach that could ultimately provide a lower-cost way to meet growing energy needs and strengthen reliability,” said Joi Harris, president and chief executive officer of DTE Energy, in a statement. “It’s exactly the kind of forward-thinking approach that has the potential to help keep energy affordable for customers over the long term.”
Veridian sits on 14 acres of land and has 170 mixed-income homes built to be fossil fuel-free. Every home has a sonnen battery, and the community also uses geothermal energy, electric heat pumps, EV-ready charging, all-electric appliances, and rooftop solar.
sonnen and Thrive Collaborative have worked for several years to make Veridian a model for community-based residential VPPs in Michigan.
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