The US virtual power plant (VPP) market is growing fast, with 37.5 gigawatts of behind-the-meter flexible capacity now online, according to a new Wood Mackenzie report. VPPs connect small energy systems and smart devices into a single network managed by an energy company or utility. That can include residential solar panels, battery storage, EVs, and smart thermostats. When the grid needs help during peak demand or emergencies, they can be tapped – and you get paid for participating.

Wood Mackenzie’s “2025 North America Virtual Power Plant Market” report shows that the market is expanding more broadly than deeply. The number of company deployments, unique buyers (offtakers), and market and utility programs each grew by more than 33% in the past year. But total capacity grew at a slower pace – just under 14%. “Utility program caps, capacity accreditation reforms, and market barriers have prevented capacity from growing as fast as market activity,” said Ben Hertz-Shargel, global head of grid edge at Wood Mackenzie.

Residential VPP customers are gaining ground

Residential customers are making a bigger dent in wholesale market capacity, increasing their share to 10.2% from 8.8% in 2024. But small customers still face roadblocks, mainly due to limits on data access for enrollment and market settlement.

Battery storage and EVs are also playing a bigger role. Deployments that include batteries or EVs now account for 61% as many as those that include smart thermostats, which have long dominated VPP programs.

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Leading states and markets

California, Texas, New York, and Massachusetts are leading the pack, making up 37% of all VPP deployments. In wholesale markets, PJM (which manages the electric grid for 13 states and DC) and ERCOT (the Texas grid), both home to massive data center commitments, also have the highest disclosed VPP offtake capacity. “While data centers are the source of new load, there’s an enormous opportunity to tap VPPs as the new source of grid flexibility,” Hertz-Shargel said.

Offtake growth and new business models

The top 25 VPP offtakers each procured more than 100 megawatts this year. Over half of all offtakers expanded their deployments by at least 30% compared to last year. That’s fueling the rise of a new “independent distributed power producer” model, where companies aim to use grid service revenue and energy arbitrage to finance third-party-owned storage for electricity retailers.

Policy pushback

Not everyone is on board with how utilities are approaching distributed energy resources (DERs). Many VPP aggregators and software providers oppose utilities putting DERs into their rate base under the Distributed Capacity Procurement model.* “This model is seen as limiting access of private capital and aggregators from the DER market, rather than leveraging customer and third-party-owned resources,” Hertz-Shargel explained. He added that most wholesale market experts believe FERC Order 2222 was a missed opportunity and won’t significantly improve market access.

*I really like this model, personally. I leased two Tesla Powerwalls under Green Mountain Power’s Lease Energy Storage program in Vermont for $55 a month, and it’s an excellent VPP program that’s grown much more rapidly than other models, such as bring-your-own batteries.

Read more: California’s grid gets a record power assist from a 100k home battery fleet

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Kia is already giving its new electric sedan a sporty upgrade. The EV4 is due for the “GT” treatment, and we are getting a look at it up close. Is the Kia EV4 GT the affordable EV sports car we’ve been waiting for?

The Kia EV4 GT is coming as an affordable EV sports car

After opening orders for the EV4 in Europe and South Korea this year, we are learning that a new flagship model is about to join the lineup.

The EV4 is Kia’s first all-electric sedan. In Europe, it’s also offered as a hatchback, another first from the South Korean automaker.

Right off the bat, you can tell this is not your typical 4-door car. Kia calls the EV4 “an entirely new type of EV sedan. With a sporty, fastback silhouette and Kia’s bold new design, the EV4 basically looks like a sports car already.

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The GT variant will take it to the next level. We’ve already seen a few camouflaged prototypes out in public testing, but a new video offers us our closest look at the EV4 GT.

Kia’s electric sports car was spotted in a parking lot in South Korea ahead of its big debut. The video from HealerTV reveals a few new details you can expect to see when the wraps finally come off.

One of the biggest differences from the current range-topping GT Line is up front. You can see the GT Line model features a horizontal bar design, while the sportier GT variant has a blanked-out design. Although they are covered, the EV4 GT is expected to arrive with a slightly more sporty headlight design.

From the rear, it looks about the same as the GT Line, but as you look closer, you can see upgraded diffusers under the rear tail lights.

Speaking of the taillights, they will also be upgraded with a sportier look, similar to the new EV6 GT. The lower part of the diffuser is expected to receive similar upgrades.

From the side, you can’t miss the signature GT-exclusive neon green brake callipers and wheels. The reporter pointed out that the tires are wider and thinner, which is expected of a sports car.

We will learn prices and official specs closer to its official debut, but it’s expected to start at around $50,000 to $55,000.

Like Kia’s other high-performance EVs, the EV4 GT is expected to feature an AWD dual-motor powertrain system. The new EV6 GT delivers 650 hp, good for a 0 to 62 mph acceleration in 3.5 seconds. Will the smaller electric sports car top it?

Kia will launch the EV4 in the US in early 2026, starting at around $35,000. It will arrive with an EPA-estimated driving range of 330 miles and a built-in NACS port for recharging at Tesla Superchargers. In Europe, the EV4 starts at about €35,000 ($41,000).

Would you take one over a Tesla Model 3 Performance? Or even a Porsche Taycan? Drop us a comment below and let us know which one you’re choosing.

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Tesla going all-in on Elon with his new comp package, Robotaxi crashes, Nissan killing Ariya, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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