Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) received PLMA's Technology Pioneer Award this Spring for their work partnering with rooftop solar customers to accelerate their transition to the renewable grid of the future. The Wattsmart Battery Program innovation journey started in 2017 as a partnership between the utility (RMP),  local developer and RMP customer The Wasatch Group, and Sonnen, a battery manufacturer. Together, they worked through policy and technical constraints to install over 600 batteries powered by solar to supply electricity to a 600-unit apartment complex called Soleil Lofts. 

The scalable Wattsmart Battery Program includes:

• Development of a Battery Grid Management System (BGMS) in partnership with Sonnen that allows RMP to connect with and dispatch customer-owned batteries to keep the power grid stable and avoid power outages.
  
  
• A BGMS that's connected to the western energy grid and automatically reacts in real-time (within 50 seconds), based on system needs. 
  
  
• A Virtual Power Plant resource in partnership with Sonnen that allows thousands of small batteries to be controlled as a group, transforming distributed residential solar power into the equivalent of one large power plant resource.

Join us to learn more about this innovative program, RMP's lessons learned, and its recommendations for others working on solar and battery initiatives.