Voltus

Excited to share that I’ll be hosting a fireside chat with Matthew Carmody from Voltus at our upcoming Data Center Summit on May 14th. We’ll be diving into a timely and increasingly critical topic for the industry: “Bring Your Own Capacity” for data centers. As data center demand accelerates and grid constraints tighten, the conversation is shifting toward how developers and operators can actively participate in energy markets and unlock new ways to secure and optimize capacity. This is going to be a high-signal discussion at the intersection of energy and infrastructure. You won’t want to miss it! #leadership #voltus

⚡ June 1 marks the start of the summer demand response season in PJM and MISO. Last week both grid operators released their summer outlooks. PJM is forecasting hotter-than-normal conditions with load growth from data centers continuing to outpace new generation. MISO is tracking 43% annual large load growth since 2020. Demand response is a contracted part of both operators' reliability plans for the season ahead. As grids get tighter, demand response gets called on more. More dispatch events means more opportunity to earn, but only for the facilities that are ready to perform when called. Not all enrolled customers earn equally. The ones that do are prepared: they have a well-defined curtailment plan, they have the right people notified when a dispatch comes in, and they have worked with their aggregator to optimize the parameters that drive earnings. Technology plays a real role here: real-time energy visibility and load alerting are what separates a facility that earns what it should from one that leaves money on the table. Demand response is increasingly a year-round program, and the stakes are only growing. If summer readiness has not been a recent conversation with your aggregator, it should be. If you are not yet enrolled and operate a large facility in PJM or MISO, reach out at info@voltus.co. #demandresponse #PJM #MISO #energymarkets #gridreliability

The biggest grid auction in a generation could also be the breakthrough moment virtual power plants have been waiting for. But only if the design details get fixed. PJM’s emergency backstop procurement is targeting 15 GW of new capacity by 2031 to meet surging data center demand. And for the first time, behind-the-meter resources are officially in the mix. Here’s the number that matters: Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey says the auction could unlock well over 10 GW of flexible, behind-the-meter capacity — if PJM gets the rules right. To put that in context, Wood Mackenzie’s 2025 VPP market report found that the entire North American VPP market currently sits at 37.5 GW. PJM’s auction alone could expand that market by more than 25% — in a single procurement. And the underlying assets are already being built. State storage mandates across PJM territory are driving massive investment: → Illinois just signed CRGA, mandating 3+ GW of battery storage and requiring utilities to file VPP tariffs by June 2026 → New Jersey has a 2 GW storage target on the books → Maryland is targeting 3 GW of storage by 2033 → Virginia currently mandates 3.1 GW — with proposals to raise it to 10 GW by 2045 This is real capacity. Being built now. The question is whether PJM’s auction rules will let it compete. Latitude Media Maeve Allsup

⚡ Next week, NERC is expected to issue a Level 3 essential actions alert - its highest severity classification - related to large computational loads unexpectedly disconnecting from the grid. The trigger: multiple events in 2024 and 2025 where 1,000 MW or more dropped off the Eastern and Texas interconnections suddenly and without warning. NERC described it this way: a loss of load that size is comparable to a large nuclear power plant coming online immediately and unexpectedly. As data centers and large industrial facilities connect to the grid faster than infrastructure can keep up, the reliability stakes are rising. Mandatory reliability standards for large loads are coming. There's a meaningful difference between a facility that drops load unexpectedly and one that reduces consumption in a planned, coordinated way that grid operators can anticipate and rely on. The facilities already operating inside a framework of planned flexibility will be better positioned when they do. If you operate a large facility and want to understand what that looks like in practice, reach out at info@voltus.co. #demandresponse #energymarkets #ERCOT #gridreliability #AI

🌎 Happy #EarthDay — and we have something to celebrate… Voltus’s Carbon Response program has been named a winner in the 2026 Environment+Energy Leader Awards. Since launching as a pilot in 2023, Carbon Response has generated 8,450 metric tons of CO₂ reductions by paying customers to reduce electricity consumption when the grid is running at high carbon intensity. Thank you to Environment+Energy Leader for this recognition — and to every Voltus customer who has participated in the program and made those reductions possible. Reducing emissions and generating revenue aren’t competing goals, and this award is proof. 💪 https://lnkd.in/gjjkiFDp

⚡ The IEA released a report yesterday with a striking number: in 2025, data centers accounted for roughly 50% of all new electricity demand growth in the US. Globally, that figure was 17%. That scale of growth is extraordinary, and it's attracting attention. 👀 A Pew Research survey found that Americans are more likely to have negative views about data centers' energy usage than positive ones. Local opposition has blocked or delayed 16 projects worth $64 billion. Maine lawmakers just approved a statewide construction moratorium. Data center operators didn't create the grid's supply constraints, but they're increasingly being asked to help solve them. Demand response is one of the most accessible tools available right now. When a facility commits to reducing load during periods of grid stress, it becomes a verifiable grid asset - not just a large consumer. That distinction matters to regulators, to utilities, and increasingly to the communities where these facilities operate. The grid needs more capacity. It also needs more flexibility. Those aren't competing priorities, and the data center industry is uniquely positioned to deliver both. #DemandResponse #DataCenters #GridResilience #EnergyFlexibility #VirtualPowerPlant

⚡ Last week, ERCOT's CEO testified before the Texas legislature that the grid is tracking 410,000 MW of large load interconnection requests. More than 80% are data centers. To put that in perspective: ERCOT added 23 GW of new generation in all of 2025. Texas is at the center of the AI infrastructure boom, and the grid is feeling it. The infrastructure needed to serve all of this new demand will take years to build. Interconnection queues, transmission upgrades, new generation - none of it happens on the timeline that data centers and industrial facilities need power. What can happen on that timeline is flexibility. Facilities that can reduce or shift load during periods of grid stress are valuable to the grid right now, and they get paid for it through demand response programs. Demand response is a legislative issue in Texas, a procurement condition being written into utility contracts in California, and a strategic question for every large energy user trying to figure out how to operate reliably in a grid that is under real strain. If you are a commercial or industrial facility in Texas and not yet participating in demand response, reach out at info@voltus.co. #demandresponse #energymarkets #ERCOT #Texas #AI

🌎 Looking for a meaningful way to celebrate Earth Day this year? How about joining a company that’s helping reshape the power grid? Voltus is hosting a Sales Associate Recruitment Event on Wednesday, April 22 from 12–3pm EST, and we’re looking for driven, ambitious professionals ready to make their mark in energy sales. At this event, you’ll get to: ✅ Meet our hiring team and sales leaders ✅ Learn about Voltus’s mission and what we do ✅ Explore real career growth opportunities ✅ Participate in hands-on sales exercises We’re looking for people with strong communication skills, a passion for the energy space, and the drive to succeed. If that sounds like you — or someone you know — don’t wait. Apply today to be considered for the event: https://lnkd.in/gzfGxtm9 Know someone who’d be a great fit? Tag them below. 👇 #EnergyJobs #ClimateJobs #EnergyCareers #ClimateCareers

June 8, 2024. The last day a grid operator didn't dispatch our customers to help balance the grid. Every day since then — through winter storms, summer peaks, and everything in between — grid operators have called on the distributed energy resources sitting inside our customers' facilities. Batteries. Smart Thermostats. Flexible Load. 3,582 events in 2024. 8,382 in 2025. 2,402 already this year. These resources have quietly become essential infrastructure. Not a seasonal program. Not a last resort. Something grid operators rely on, every single day. That only happens because of three things: a platform built to perform at this scale, a customer base that shows up and delivers when it counts, and a team that works relentlessly behind the scenes to make sure every dispatch delivers. I'm incredibly proud of all three. The future of the grid is distributed. We're proud to be part of building it. #DistributedEnergyResources #DemandResponse #EnergyTransition #GridResilience #Voltus

The grid reliability conversation is increasingly becoming one where load flexibility and distributed capacity is a critical building block. This week, Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey joined Scott McKay, Junbo Zhao, and Sylvain Cognet-Dauphin at #CERAWeek2026 to dig into the harder questions — how we scale smart demand, what it actually takes to engage energy users, and where market incentives need to evolve to make it all work. The demand side is where the fastest, most affordable, most resilient capacity lives. 💪 #VirtualPowerPlants #DistributedEnergyResources #DemandResponse