DiscoverMarketplace TechNetwork effect: Customers help utilities build smarter, more efficient power grid
Network effect: Customers help utilities build smarter, more efficient power grid

Network effect: Customers help utilities build smarter, more efficient power grid

Update: 2025-03-27
Share

Description


On today’s episode of “Marketplace Tech,” Meghan McCarty Carino speaks with Daniel Cohan, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice University, about virtual power plants. These aren’t physical generating stations. They’re more of a network, usually managed by a local utility, that aggregates electricity from  different sources like businesses or homes. Essentially, these customers give energy back to the grid or help the utility balance supply and demand. As electricity demand grows, thanks to power-hungry AI data centers, electric cars and extreme weather, some providers are turning to virtual power plants to reduce strain on the grid.


Comments 
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Network effect: Customers help utilities build smarter, more efficient power grid

Network effect: Customers help utilities build smarter, more efficient power grid

Marketplace