{"id":2640,"date":"2026-03-19T15:58:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T19:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/shink\/?p=2640"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:01:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T20:01:32","slug":"virtual-power-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/shink\/2026\/03\/19\/virtual-power-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Energy\u00a0and Environment Committee Advances Virtual Power Plant Legislation to Help Lower Utility Costs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span><i data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Innovative energy proposal would use existing resources to increase energy reliability and resiliency, save consumers money<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">\n<p>LANSING, Mich. (March 19, 2026) \u2014 Today,\u00a0the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment passed\u00a0Senate Bills<span>\u00a0<\/span><span><u><a id=\"OWA6b9f76fd-1c57-9f3a-2794-531c58b92d04\" class=\"x_Hyperlink x_SCXW23915368 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0731\" data-linkindex=\"2\" title=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0731\">731<\/a><\/u><\/span>&#8211;<span><u><a id=\"OWA21efc36e-2187-c612-2072-03aa5c8e4221\" class=\"x_Hyperlink x_SCXW23915368 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0732\" data-linkindex=\"3\" title=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2025-SB-0732\">732<\/a><\/u><\/span>.\u00a0Championed\u00a0by Sens.<b>\u00a0Sue Shink<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(D-Northfield Twp.) and<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Jeff Irwin<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(D-Ann Arbor), this legislation would use virtual power plants to improve energy efficiency and grid reliability, reducing utility costs for Michigan consumers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdvancing this package\u00a0brings\u00a0us\u00a0one step closer to delivering sustainable,\u00a0reliable, and more\u00a0affordable energy options to\u00a0hardworking\u00a0Michigan families,\u201d said Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Shink<\/b>. \u201cAs we see the Trump administration throw away millions of dollars on outdated energy infrastructure, I am even more determined to prioritize energy production here in Michigan that is both healthier and cheaper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This legislation would direct the Michigan Public Service Commission to establish regulations requiring utilities to include virtual power plants in their plans for distribution and transmission. The virtual power plant aggregators and the owners of individual behind-the-meter resources would be compensated for grid services that increase grid resilience and reliability or provide net savings to ratepayers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVirtual Power Plants lower electricity rates by harnessing the most affordable energy of all\u2014 by meeting our needs through better use of the resources we already have, such as batteries or smart thermostats,\u201d said Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Irwin<\/b>. \u201cI\u2019m glad to see this legislation moving forward so that we can all benefit from less waste and smarter use of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Virtual power plants aggregate existing distributed energy resources, including not just distributed generation but also storage and demand response to meet fluctuations in electrical demand. They deploy resources and downregulate demand as needed, avoiding the need for costly \u201cpeaker plants\u201d to meet demand spikes. When more electricity is needed, virtual power plants coordinate diverse resources in decentralized locations by bringing distributed generation online, pulling stored energy from batteries or vehicles and stepping down high-demand uses. Virtual power plants also enable cleaner sources of electrical generation by evening out fluctuations in supply from solar or wind.<\/p>\n<p>This legislation now heads to the full Senate floor for consideration.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: center;\">###<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Innovative energy proposal would use existing resources to increase energy reliability and resiliency, save consumers money\u00a0 \u00a0 LANSING, Mich. (March 19, 2026) \u2014 Today,\u00a0the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senate Energy\u00a0and Environment Committee Advances Virtual Power Plant Legislation to Help Lower Utility Costs\u00a0 - 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