Home batteries are quietly becoming Vermont’s largest power source. Spread across thousands of ordinary homes, this “power plant” protects owners from outages while providing cheaper, cleaner energy. And the programme that made it happen started as a pilot in 2017.
Pollyanna’s Story
A dozen times a year, storms would knock out the electricity at Pollyanna Bladyka’s rural Vermont home, leaving her waking up in the dark without coffee or news. She used to suffer through those moments. Now she has replaced her gas generator with two home batteries.
A monthly charge of $55 covers a 10-year lease with Green Mountain Power (GMP) for the batteries. They hold enough power to run her house for two days if she cuts back on her dishwasher and laundry use. She has gone without losing power since 2024.
In eastern Vermont, Bladyka calls Springfield home, where she resides alongside her husband Andy and their dog. She has described losing power several times a year, with storms being the main reason behind those outages. Her mornings without electricity leave her wanting coffee and news rather than cold rooms.
“I don’t mind being cold… but I just want my coffee in the morning and I want to be able to watch my news,” she says.
She was on the verge of buying a gas generator in 2024, as many neighbours had done. Instead, her electrician told her about the GMP programme. She did some research and found the $12,000 cost of the generator beat the $55 monthly lease.
There has been no loss of power since the system came into use in 2024.
What a Virtual Power Plant Is
Thousands of consumer devices come together to form a single orchestrated system known as a virtual power plant. It operates within the wider grid much like a traditional power plant does. Among the devices that can be part of it are home batteries, rooftop solar installations, smart thermostats and even EV batteries.
The arrangement works to cut down on the strain placed upon the grid, thus removing the need to construct additional fossil fuel-powered stations. This approach has existed for many years, though it only came into wider use as energy demand increased and distributed sources such as rooftop solar panels grew in number.
Why Vermont Needs It
In recent years, Vermont has seen a rise in severe weather events, including some of its worst storms on record. The state’s largest electric utility, GMP, has endured seven of its 10 costliest storm-related incidents within the past decade alone, with losses exceeding $225m.
Climate change is driving an increase in extreme weather globally, and Vermont has seen that trend firsthand, from flooding to snowstorms. The state has experienced an increase in outages in recent decades, according to a 2022 Associated Press analysis of government data.
The state’s rural nature and extreme cold in winter mean any prolonged outage can be a matter of life-and-death if a customer does not have backup power. That was true during Texas’ grid failure in 2021.
Bladyka no longer has to fear power cuts. Her battery sustains her home for two days even when she uses little electricity.
Growth Numbers
This project started as a trial in 2017, and Kate Peters, a virtual power plant specialist at Boston-based consultancy The Brattle Group, has said that GMP’s programme may rank among the largest battery programmes in the US.
Enrolment surged in 2023 after state regulators lifted a cap on the programme. More than 2,500 people enrolled since then.
The GMP scheme covers over 75% of Vermont’s territory, and its stated aim is to eliminate all power outages by 2030. To reach that goal, the battery programme works together with other steps, such as burying power lines.
GMP has suggested offering batteries to thousands of customers for free in places where power outages happen more often. The utility has already tested this idea on a limited basis with several pilot projects.
The Scale of Virtual Plants
Wood Mackenzie’s own numbers show that the United States currently has more than 40 gigawatts of virtual power plant capacity. However, that figure remains modest when set against the roughly 600 gigawatts of natural gas and the roughly 200 gigawatts of coal on hand.
But a total of 160GW of capacity could be unlocked by 2030, according to a 2025 US Department of Energy report. That equals some 20% of the country’s expected peak energy demand.
| Technology | Capacity (GW) |
|---|---|
| Virtual power plants (current) | ~40 |
| Natural gas | ~600 |
| Coal | ~200 |
| Virtual power plants (potential by 2030) | 160 |
Other Stories From Vermont
Rooftop solar and two home batteries through the GMP programme have kept Megan Browning’s power steady for about a year now, and she has not lost power since. She lives in northern Vermont with her family.
A strong windstorm recently struck her area and took down a power line close to where she lives, cutting off electricity for many homes nearby, she says. She “didn’t even notice a flicker.”
The Quiet Shift
GMP’s virtual power plant has quietly become Vermont’s biggest source of power. The state is testing how far this “hidden” form of power can go.
Since 2023, the programme has drawn more people into it year after year, and the reason is simple: it keeps homes supplied during power failures while cutting expenses at the same time, which means fewer new fossil fuel plants get built.
Bladyka’s story is simple: she wanted coffee and news. She got them, plus a working battery that doubles as a power plant. Vermont’s largest power source now runs on household leases, and the rest of the country is watching.
Source material: “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries,” the BBC.
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