Published 
Oct 31, 2018

Can DR Power Time Travel?

Voltus just exceeded 1.21 gigawatts of demand response under management. What can 1.21 gigawatts do for us? Read about the impact here.

Gregg Dixon
Gregg Dixon
Board Member

Voltus just exceeded 1.21 gigawatts of demand response under management. We think Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown of “Back to the Future” movie fame would find this very appealing (although, Doc, you need to learn how to pronounce gigawatt)!

“We’re true energy geeks here at Voltus. When our portfolio crossed 1,000 MWs of demand response under management, we were eager to celebrate and make a public announcement. But our teammates said, ‘Wait, when we get to 1.21 gigawatts, we’ll be able to power a DeLorean into the future!’ so we just had to hold off,” said Dana Guernsey, VP of product and energy markets at Voltus.

“Now that we’re grown up and have kids of our own, we’re finding that they’re discovering the cultural icons of our past, so we’ll be in ‘Back to the Future’ Halloween costumes tonight,” said Matt Plante, president of Voltus. “Our portfolio of demand response is now in 25 states, two countries and delivered across thousands of sites. Although we can’t provide a single source of power to get that DeLorean into the vortex of time, that’s not the point of demand response. Our resource can deliver value to grid operators, utilities and end-users here and now in a multitude of applications.”

Here is what 1.21 gigawatts can do for us:

  1. Deliver nearly $40 million per year in cash payments to demand response participants
  2. Deliver more than $1 billion per year in ratepayer savings
  3. Eliminate the need to build a new coal or nuclear central power plant
  4. Increase grid resilience and prevent grid blackouts and brownouts
  5. Provide the equivalent power of nearly five million solar panels
  6. Eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 44,142,283 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle

And if, like us, you’re shuttling your kids around tonight to all of the candy hot spots, please be safe and enjoy!