Yesterday, PG&E, Rewiring America, and Google announced what they’re calling a “first-of-its-kind” Virtual Power Plant (VPP), called SHARE (Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency), which affects PG&E users in the Bay Area.
The proof-of-concept program coordinates home batteries, smart thermostats, and battery-enabled heat pumps into a single distributed network that can reduce strain on the grid during periods of peak demand, without the need to build new transmission infrastructure.
“Enormous, untapped capacity”
The initiative has two tracks. First, PG&E is working with Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home to enroll nearly 21,000 existing flexible energy devices as early as fall 2026. Participating households will have an opportunity to earn rewards for the smart features they already use while gaining new features to manage energy prices.
“Home energy devices hold enormous, untapped capacity that can meaningfully improve affordability and reliability for all Californians,” said Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun. “This initiative unlocks that potential while giving customers an opportunity to share in the economic benefits of helping improve their local grid.”
Secondly, eligible customers in Santa Clara and Alameda counties will have access to deeply discounted Carrier battery-enabled heat pumps, which automatically store and shift energy use from peak periods, resulting in potentially lower energy bills and better home resilience. The first 25 households to enroll will get a $10,000 discount on the energy system, and subsequent households will get a $5,000 discount.
The program is funded by Google, covering customer incentives, technology deployment, and program delivery. PG&E will lead analysis and validation, while Rewiring America will handle the deployment in households.
The proof-of-concept is scheduled to run through 2027, with initial findings expected in late 2026 or early 2027. PG&E will begin contacting eligible customers this fall.
Eventually, the program could expand to support larger commercial and industrial applications.
To check eligibility and learn more, you can visit Rewiring America’s SHARE program page.