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Advocates pitch virtual power plants to New Mexico committee as fast, distributed capacity option
Summary
Renewable industry representatives told lawmakers virtual power plants (aggregated distributed energy resources) can provide fast, low-cost peak capacity and resilience; speakers cited a recent California test that dispatched about 535 MW from 100,000 homes and urged statutory and PRC rule steps for New Mexico.
Renewable-industry representatives briefed the committee on virtual power plants (VPPs), a distributed energy concept that networks customer-sited resources—solar-plus-storage, electric vehicles, thermostats and other flexible loads—so they can be dispatched during grid events to reduce peak demand and increase resilience.
Jim Desjardin, executive director of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of New Mexico, explained that VPPs aggregate many small resources to act as a single dispatchable asset. He cited a July test in California (Sunrun/Tesla) that used roughly 100,000 homes to dispatch approximately 535 megawatts, and said utilities and third-party aggregators (EnergyHub, Sunrun, Tesla and others) are active in the space.
Desjardin said New Mexico has about 50,000 rooftop solar systems but relatively low battery attachment; he estimated customer-sited storage at about 200 megawatts statewide and argued policy and incentives will be needed to grow that base. He described policy and regulatory touchpoints: the Public Regulation Commission's docket on grid modernization and distribution planning (docket 22-00089-UT), prior legislative work on distribution-system electrification (HB13/Power Up New Mexico) that included VPP components but did not pass in 2025, and ongoing DOE grant activity.
On governance, Desjardin said third-party aggregators can provide neutrality and competition that helps keep costs down, though utilities are also exploring DER orchestration. He emphasized compensation models for participating customers (examples cited: modest annual payments for availability, and definitions of how many events per year participants must accept) and noted workforce and training benefits from scaling storage and VPP programs.
Lawmakers asked about home battery costs (Desjardin estimated $12,000—15,000 for a typical home) and opportunities to use mobile assets such as electric school buses for vehicle-to-grid dispatch; presenters said a combination of enabling statutes, PRC rulemaking and interconnection changes would be needed to scale such programs.
Advocates recommended neutral third-party aggregation, enabling PRC rules and legislative clarity to accelerate deployment and cited model programs in Colorado and pilots elsewhere as references.
