What is a virtual power plant?

A virtual power plant (VPP) is a network of distributed batteries (sitting in buildings, not power stations) coordinated by software and dispatched into the wholesale electricity market as if they were one plant. FERC Order 2222 requires grid operators to let aggregations as small as 100 kW sell into those markets, and CAISO, California's grid operator, implemented it first in the nation. MYNT's AMPS platform dispatches member batteries against CAISO prices on a 5-minute cycle.

The FERC Order 2222 floor: aggregations this small can sell into wholesale markets

Why did FERC Order 2222 change the economics?

Before Order 2222, wholesale markets were the territory of utility-scale plants. The order forced grid operators to open them to aggregated distributed resources, with a floor of just 100 kW. That means a commercial building's battery, pooled with others, gets paid like a power plant: capacity payments for being available, energy arbitrage on the price spread, ancillary services for grid stability.

CAISO, the California grid, implemented the order first in the nation, which is why California commercial batteries have a head start on everyone else's.

How does a building join one?

The battery stays where it is and keeps doing its day job: your behind-the-meter savings always get first call. Dispatch software takes the idle hours and bids them into CAISO. MYNT's AMPS platform runs that loop every five minutes: charge when midday solar is nearly free, discharge into the evening peak, and stack the market revenue on top of the bill savings you already keep.

There's nothing new to install and no upfront cost: MYNT is paid out of the new revenue the dispatch creates. Actively managed, a battery's value roughly 2.5×'s versus autopilot.

ILLUSTRATIVE: 1 MW / 4-HOUR BATTERY IN CAISO, RECENT MARKET CONDITIONS. YOUR ANALYSIS PINS DOWN THE REAL NUMBERS.