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PG&E Will Pay Sunrun Battery Owners for Power to Avoid Blackouts

PG&E and Sunrun announce partnership to enlist home solar and battery systems that can shore up grid when demand spikes during hot weather. 

Contractors install SunRun solar panels on the roof of a home in San Jose, California.

Contractors install SunRun solar panels on the roof of a home in San Jose, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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PG&E Corp. and Sunrun Inc. have formed a partnership to pay homeowners with solar and battery systems to provide power to the California grid and help prevent blackouts when demand spikes in hot weather. 

Under the agreement, Sunrun will enroll up to 7,500 new and existing home solar and battery customers in PG&E’s service area to create a so-called virtual power plant. The systems would be able to provide enough electricity to power 22,000 homes during summer evenings when energy supplies can run short. The idea is to tap into renewable energy produced by rooftop panels that can be stored in home batteries and used after the sun has set, displacing some fossil-fuel produced power.