Nearly 100 homes in Ann Arbor are to be linked into Michigan's first residential battery virtual power plant, which DTE Energy has launched with sonnen Inc. Under the two-year pilot, which has been approved by the state's Public Service Commission, the utility will pool their batteries and will test whether they can lower grid costs and support reliability.
Utility: DTE Energy
Battery partner: sonnen Inc
Homes connected: Nearly 100
Pilot term: 2 years
Community: Veridian
Community homes: 170
Approval: Michigan PSC
DTE Energy, a US-based diversified energy company, has launched Michigan's first residential battery virtual power plant (VPP) pilot together with sonnen Inc, a maker of home energy storage systems. The pilot has been approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), and it is to run for two years at Veridian at County Farm, a carbon-neutral community in Ann Arbor. Nearly 100 of the community's homes will be connected through their sonnen battery systems and the company's VPP technology.
Under the pilot, DTE will treat the individual home batteries as one additional resource on its grid. The utility, whose electric company serves 2.3 million customers in Southeast Michigan, is to evaluate whether that pooled resource can help it to meet periods of high demand, to lower system costs and to keep its supply reliable. The findings will then help to determine how residential VPPs could be used more widely in the state.
The homes that are taking part were already equipped for such a test. Veridian, which has been developed by Thrive Collaborative on 14 acres beside County Farm Park, comprises 170 mixed-income homes that have been built to operate without fossil fuel. Each of the homes has been fitted with a sonnen battery system, and the community also draws on geothermal energy, electric heat pumps, EV-ready charging and all-electric appliances. sonnen and Thrive Collaborative have spent several years in preparing the community as a model for residential VPPs in Michigan.
The Veridian VPP pilot will be a true demonstration of the decentralized, digitalized and decarbonized energy system of the future. By coordinating intelligent batteries across an entire community, we are turning individual home batteries into a pooled, grid-interactive resource that responds to grid needs in real time. We're proud to partner with DTE, a world-class utility and a pleasure to work with. Their innovative spirit and firm resolve are making Michigan's first grid-interactive VPP community a reality, and that is a major achievement.Blake Richetta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of sonnen Inc
The pilot has been launched at a time when the US business of sonnen is expanding. sonnen USA has doubled its sales and has tripled its production year on year, and it expects to deliver more than 180 MWh of residential battery storage in 2026.