Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey issued an executive order on March 13. The executive order requires the state to develop 3.5 gigawatts of demand-management resources by 2035. These resources include virtual power plants, electric vehicle charging management, energy efficiency programs, and demand response programs.
The Massachusetts government will issue a report in September. The report will identify existing demand response and related energy programs to serve as a baseline for the 2035 targets. Larry Chretien is executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. "We're excited," Chretien said. "We're always impatient, though," he said. "We're hoping this helps kill off some peaker plants," he said.
A virtual power plant network in California generated a peak of approximately 0.5 gigawatts in July. The New England power grid covering six states had a peak demand of 26.1 gigawatts in 2025. "There is no one solution for expanding grid capacity and we're continuing to explore all options, including the many avenues for load flexibility," said Michael Terrell, global head of advanced energy at Google.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory issued a report in January 2025 documenting approximately 180 virtual power plant projects nationwide. The nationwide virtual power plant projects had a combined potential capacity of 19 gigawatts in January 2025. Voltus stated it will aggregate up to 100 megawatts of distributed energy resources annually. The virtual power plant will operate within the PJM grid region. Autumn Proudlove is the managing director for policy and markets at the NC Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University.
Electric vehicle charging management is among the eligible resources. A University of California study found that 1 percent of electric vehicle owners enrolled in a managed charging program without financial incentives. The same study found that 4.6 percent of electric vehicle owners enrolled when offered a $40 monthly incentive.