Pacific Gas & Electrical Company announced one giant leap for renewable energy, on August 4, 2025. The energy utility supplying five million homes in northern California, completed a massive experiment harnessing thousands of remote batteries. This was the biggest trial of its kind in California, and the utility says maybe the world.
One Giant Leap Where Renewables Came Together
The media release that we link to below, reveals how thousands of Tesla Powerwalls and Sunrun batteries in private homes combined forces. They sprang into action at precisely 7:00 pm during evening peak, and merged into “one giant invisible power plant”.
For two hours, this virtual power station delivered 535 megawatts of electricity to the Pacific Gas & Electrical Company grid. That was sufficient to power hundreds of thousands of California homes during peak demand, or after a technical failure.
However, this time the thousands of Tesla Powerwalls and Sunrun home batteries did not respond to a blackout, or some other emergency. They were participating in a controlled trial, to prove they could support the grid under such circumstances.
A Virtual Power Station Supporting Renewable Energy
California has its eyes on a target of 50% renewable energy by 2030. However, to reach this target it needs a reliable back-up after the sun sets, and the wind drops away. In this regard the utility has two options:
- Maintain additional conventional power plants that only operate at peak.
- Construct battery farms that store renewable energy for night time use.
However in this particular instance, Pacific Gas & Electrical Company trialed the new idea of using “mini-power stations in private homes” for energy storage during evening peak, and then paying customers for the power.
This trial proved that the idea is feasible, and that home batteries can be relied on to support the grid. The system was flexible too, because the utility could turn it on and off at the “flick of a switch”. This truly was one giant leap for renewable energy.
But to our minds the trial also reinforced one fundamental principle. We should not leave it entirely to utilities to keep the lights on. We, the consumers have a role to play too, and it could earn us money!
More Information
California’s AB-303 And BESS Battery Storage
California Grid Batteries Making Presence Felt
