Massachusetts’ Clean Energy Future: Considering the Peak
It was energizing to convene such a dedicated group of leaders in February to examine how best to help build MA's leadership in Virtual Power Plants & AI as mechanisms to shed and shave the peak while advancing grid resilience and equity.
Thank you to our speakers from the MA Office of Energy Transformation (OET), leading VPP experts, and Boston University professors. We also appreciate the other delegates representing utilities, academia, policymakers, and clean energy innovators for sharing your expertise.
As Executive Director of the OET Melissa Lavinson emphasized, planning for dramatic increases in peak demand and aligning demand-side solutions with Massachusetts’ 2030/2050 climate goals requires unprecedented collaboration. The actionable pathways discussed include:
1. The Urgency of Decarbonizing Peak Demand: Executive Director of the OET Melissa Lavinson explained that MA projects a 150% rise in peak demand by 2050, shifting to winter-dominant peaks, compounded by climate-driven volatility in energy markets and extreme weather risks—disproportionately burdening marginalized communities reliant on fossil fuel peaker plants.
Opportunity: VPPs can be part of the solution set, but more focused research needs to be done on blockers to implementation.
2. Grid Capacity Underutilization: Energy tech entrepreneur Edison Almeida identified the persistence of underutilized grid infrastructure (<50% capacity) due to utilities’ profit-driven focus on new construction over-optimization.
Opportunity: Proposals for third-party entities incented to increase grid capacity utilization, funded from achieved savings.
3. Flexible Data Centers to Advance Sustainable AI and Strengthen Grid Resilience: BU Professor Ayse Coskun presented on the opportunity for data centers to provide valuable demand response by shifting non-urgent computing loads during peak times.
Opportunity: Join the collaboration between the CCC and Boston University to advance its seed study on flexible data centers as virtual power plants (VPPs). One CCC collaborator has volunteered a possible additional $30k to match BU’s commitment, and we encourage a still-sought third donor for strategic, threshold research to hopefully support a 6-9 million feasibility study possibly supported by the legislature.
We look forward to reconvening at our next meeting, details to come. If you have any questions or would like to participate in any of the initiatives mentioned above or discussed in previous meetings, please don't hesitate to reach out.
