California Lawmakers Undermine Grid Reliability by Defunding Virtual Power Plant Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2025 

Contact: Ariella Sult, Chief Communications Officer at Vote Solar, asult@votesolar.org

Sacramento, CA – California lawmakers are stripping $18 million in funding from the state’s Demand-Side Grid-Support (DSGS) program, a flagship Virtual Power Plant (VPP) initiative credited with preventing blackouts and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Instead of expanding the program as advocates urged, legislators cut its budget and deferred key decisions on future funding—leaving the program at risk of running out of money by the end of the year. This rollback threatens one of California’s most effective tools for grid reliability, affordability, and clean energy progress.

Vote Solar Executive Director, Sach Constantine, issued the following statement:

“California’s lawmakers attempt to cut funding for the Demand-Side Grid-Support (DSGS) program is not just shortsighted, it is reckless. This isn’t a mere pilot program; it’s a proven, results-driven solution that has already helped the state avoid blackouts, stabilized the grid during extreme heatwaves, and leveraged hundreds of megawatts of customer-owned battery capacity. But instead of strengthening this clean-energy lifeline, the legislature has reduced funding leaving the program to inevitably run out of funds by year’s end. 

“The DSGS program isn’t just helping avoid crises, it’s delivering tangible value: it lowers costs for all Californians and has the potential to scale rapidly to rival fossil fuel plants in capacity. At a time when energy bills are spiking, pulling the rug out from under a program that lowers costs for ratepayers is especially irresponsible. 

“Backing away now undermines not only affordability and reliability but also California’s credibility as a clean-energy leader. We call on Governor Newsom and state legislators to reverse these funding cuts immediately and restore investments in DSGS. It is embarrassing that California, once a leader in the transition to a carbon free economy is failing to achieve what states like Texas, Massachusetts and Colorado are succeeding at accomplishing. Now is not the time to waver; it’s the time to double down on what is already proven to work.”