SunPower offering localized, solar energy at lower prices to New England homeowners through virtual power plant after auction bid win.
SunPower recently executed on its plan toward becoming an energy services provider when it was selected to deliver close to 11 MWdc of solar power in New England as a result of the region’s 14th Forward Capacity Auction (FCA 14). The auction is held annually to ensure that the six states in ISO New England’s service territory have enough resources to meet future electricity needs.
By aggregating its residential portfolio as a virtual power plant to participate in the auction, SunPower was able to offer localized, renewable capacity at lower prices. The company’s capacity joins hundreds of MW of clean energy technology to deliver electricity in the region between years 2023 and 2024. According to ISO New England, the organization secured capacity at the lowest price in the auction’s history.
“SunPower has a large and growing residential customer base, and we look forward to leading the transformation toward a flexible, local, and renewable grid by offering solar and storage services to key organizations like ISO New England and its constituents,” said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO and chairman of the board. “This is a historic moment for SunPower and a big win for ISO New England. In the U.S., distributed solar technology is now producing reliable electricity at costs competitive to traditional energy sources like coal and gas which is a major shift from just a few years ago.”
Working with its best-in-class dealer network, SunPower will sell and install approximately 1,375 home solar solutions in New England to fulfill its capacity obligations.
CPower Energy Management, a demand-side energy management company with extensive experience successfully participating in capacity markets, partnered with SunPower in this ISO New England bid. The partnership combined CPower’s experience in these markets with SunPower’s ability to aggregate residential solar electric systems.
“CPower is proud to partner with SunPower to generate value for their customers through leveraging the inherent supply of SunPower’s residential solutions to support the stability of the grid,” said Joseph Gatto, CPower Vice President and General Manager of New England.
Werner continued, “We look forward to exploring future virtual power plant opportunities with our complete Equinox home solar-plus-storage system, as SunPower expands energy services in the North American residential market.”
— Solar Builder magazine
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