Illinois regulators approve ComEd VPP under new clean energy law

Illinois regulators have approved a new program from ComEd, the utility serving the Chicago area, that will pay homeowners with battery storage to send power back to the grid during times of high demand. Called a "scheduled dispatch virtual power plant," the program links up small home batteries so ComEd can draw on them together, similar to a single power plant, when the grid is under strain, such as during the early-July heat wave that nearly set a demand record across the PJM grid region.

If you have a home battery in ComEd's northern Illinois service territory, or are thinking about installing one, this program could offer a way to earn money from it. Under the utility's filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission, participants commit to five consecutive seasons, each running June 1 to September 30, and receive seasonal payments based on how much energy their battery sends back to the grid during peak events.

The program grows out of Illinois's Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, signed this past January, which requires utilities to add 3 gigawatts of battery storage by 2030 and build similar virtual power plants using home batteries, EV chargers, and smart thermostats. The law also expands energy efficiency programs and requires utilities to offer time-of-use pricing, which charges different rates depending on when you use power. ComEd says it already has about 1.8 gigawatts of these distributed home and business energy resources connected to its grid.