Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan

This policy brief outlines how virtual power plants (VPPs)—aggregations of distributed energy resources—can address Michigan's aging distribution grid, blackout incidents, and narrowing capacity for peak demand while supporting clean energy standards of 80% by 2035 and 100% by 2040.

• Michigan faces grid reliability challenges, including an aging distribution grid with frequent blackouts and a decrease in available capacity to meet peak demand. VPPs are proposed as a solution to provide utility-scale grid services and help the state achieve clean energy targets of 80% by 2035 and 100% by 2040.
• The brief recommends five specific actions for Michigan stakeholders to advance VPPs: utilities and third parties should seek funding via the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC); investor-owned utilities should use the MPSC's 90-day pilot review program; the legislature should pass VPP mandates; the MPSC should allow residential and small commercial aggregation in wholesale markets; and the MPSC should evaluate advanced metering infrastructure to improve DER integration.

APA

RMI (2025). Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan. https://rmi.org/resources/supporting-a-reliable-grid-the-opportunity-for-virtual-power-plants-in-michigan/

Chicago

RMI. Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/supporting-a-reliable-grid-the-opportunity-for-virtual-power-plants-in-michigan/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan |date=27 March 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/supporting-a-reliable-grid-the-opportunity-for-virtual-power-plants-in-michigan/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025supporting, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Supporting a Reliable Grid: The Opportunity for Virtual Power Plants in Michigan}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/supporting-a-reliable-grid-the-opportunity-for-virtual-power-plants-in-michigan/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }