Camus Energy Joins RMI Virtual Power Plant Partnership

Camus Energy, the orchestration software provider transforming how utilities manage the grid, today announced it has joined the RMI Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3). This collaboration aims to help utilities and virtual power plant (VPP) developers unlock more opportunities for distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide critical services to the grid. Joining industry leaders including Ford, General Motors, Google Nest, Leap, Lunar Energy, Sunpower, and Sunrun, Camus will provide essential expertise and guidance on the software supporting safe and efficient aggregation, grid-integration, and orchestration of DERs as “grid aware” virtual power plants.

“We’re thrilled to join this groundbreaking initiative of industry leaders accelerating the use of local resources to bolster grid reliability, affordability, and sustainability,” said Astrid Atkinson, co-founder and CEO of Camus Energy.

“Effectively operating virtual power plants at scale requires coordination with local utilities to prevent damage to essential equipment and to unlock new revenue streams from local grid support. We look forward to bringing our perspective as utility partners and software experts to the conversations framing the future of a clean, efficient power system.”

The RMI Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3) launched in January 2023 to catalyze policy and industry action toward expanding the VPP market. A VPP is a connected aggregation of local energy resources – not only solar and battery storage, but increasingly grid-interactive appliances and buildings, electric vehicle charging, and thermal energy storage. Aggregators, utilities, or grid operators, under terms agreed upon with participants, remotely and automatically adjust DER behavior to provide clean energy, reliability, and grid services while maintaining customer comfort and productivity. VPPs allow for community participation while protecting the grid and maximizing efficiency.

“The mission of VP3 aligns perfectly with what we’re doing at Camus, keeping the energy transition safe, affordable and easy through the best technology available,” said Camus Energy CEO, Astrid Atkinson. “We bring to this partnership the incredible insight and experience of our utility partners on the front lines of the shift to a zero-carbon grid.”

Click here for more on Astrid’s thoughts on VPPs.