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Powerwall Owners Could Earn Up to $4,000 as V.I. Launches Virtual Power Plant to Support WAPA Grid

Virgin Islands residents who own Tesla Powerwall home battery storage systems could soon be paid up to $4000 to make their stored energy available to support the municipal supply of electricity during “periods of elevated demand and generation shortfalls,” said V.I. Energy Office Director Kyle Fleming on Monday.  Fleming announced the launch of the territory’s Virtual Power Plant, which “represents the culmination of years of work…to strategically prepare the territory for distributed energy coordination at scale.” Nearly 3000 Tesla Powerwalls across the territory account for up to “40 megawatt hours of potential energy capacity,” Mr. Fleming noted. These battery systems “have the ability to function collectively as a dispatchable energy resource capable of helping stabilize the grid during periods of stress.”  Those who allow their Powerwalls to participate in the territorial VPP will receive compensation of $1000 per system, capped at $4000 per site. This would allow “portions of t...