VPP POLICY PRINCIPLES

The policy brief outlines 17 principles for the advancement of virtual power plants (VPPs), focusing on expanding the distributed energy resource (DER) asset base, optimizing VPP design, ensuring equitable compensation, improving customer experience, and defining the roles of utilities and system operators. It argues for technology-neutral policies, open communication standards, and fair market access to allow VPPs to compete with traditional grid solutions while maximizing benefits for all ratepayers.

• Scaling VPPs requires a robust policy framework to accelerate the deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) across all customer types, including low-to-moderate income and historically disadvantaged communities. Suggested policies include tax credits, rebates, utility financing, and dynamic tariffs.
• VPP design should be technology-neutral and based on open communication protocols to ensure seamless integration of various DER types and vendors, avoiding preference for any specific technology.
• VPPs should have non-discriminatory access to wholesale and retail markets, competing fairly with traditional resources for services such as capacity, demand response, and ancillary services based on cost, carbon emissions, and social benefits.
• To maximize ratepayer benefits and grid resilience, policies must allow for 'value stacking,' enabling VPPs to provide multiple wholesale and retail grid services simultaneously without double-counting.
• Customer-centric policies should ensure that users maintain operational control of their DERs, own their data, and have simple, transparent enrollment processes, including the ability to enroll at the point of sale.
• Utilities and system operators should adopt open-source software and provide timely, secure access to grid data to third-party providers to foster innovation and trust in VPP performance.

APA

RMI (2024). VPP POLICY PRINCIPLES. https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/02/vpp_policy_principles_updated.pdf

Chicago

RMI. VPP POLICY PRINCIPLES. 2024. https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/02/vpp_policy_principles_updated.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=VPP POLICY PRINCIPLES |date=February 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/02/vpp_policy_principles_updated.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024vpp, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{VPP POLICY PRINCIPLES}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2024/02/vpp_policy_principles_updated.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }