By Sabine Rogers, Flex Coalition Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sabine Rogers, Director of the Flex Coalition (a project of Smart-on-Smart)
[email protected]
Washington, DC – February 22, 2023
New non-profit Smart-on-Smart announces the formation of the Flex Coalition, a group that provides educational support for policies that advance demand flexibility and enable markets for Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) as a grid resource. Comprised of the nation’s leading residential and commercial demand flexibility providers, the Flex Coalition is dedicated to educating policymakers and stakeholders on the benefits of VPPs as a tool for promoting grid reliability, greenhouse gas reduction, and energy equity.
“Demand flexibility plays a critical role in the decarbonization of the grid.” said Matt Golden, CEO of Recurve. “The Flex Coalition is the voice of the companies building the technology and business models to scale virtual power plants, to educate policymakers on ways to empower market-based solutions that deliver measurable value to the grid and maximize benefits to consumers.”
The flexible demand industry encompasses energy efficiency, demand response, load-shifting, solar and storage. Flex Coalition member companies are already deploying these solutions in the marketplace. Cisco DeVries, CEO of OhmConnect, said, “We can operate our fleet of homes and devices with the same predictability and reliability as traditional fossil fuel plants, instantly aggregating millions of small energy reductions into megawatts for the grid.”
The Inflation Reduction Act, with $8.8 billion for Home Efficiency & Electrification Rebate (HOMES/HEEHR) Programs, presents an historic opportunity to advance performance-based demand flexibility in homes across America. That is why the Flex Coalition is responding to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Request for Information (RFI) on these programs to share insights and best practices based on real-world deployment of demand flexibility in homes. “Based on Sealed’s over 10 years of experience with measured savings, we believe the HOMES Program has the potential to transform the energy efficiency market—turning investments in weatherization and electrification into a reliable, accountable grid resource that protects consumers, ratepayers, and taxpayers,” said Andy Frank, President of Sealed.
JOIN US for a launch webinar on Wednesday, March 1, 1-2pm Eastern to learn more about the Flex Coalition, hear from participating companies, and get an advance look at our Home Energy Rebate Program RFI response.