A Virtual Power Plant, or VPP, is a network of home batteries that a utility can draw on together during periods of high grid demand — hot summer evenings, heat waves, or unexpected outages — instead of firing up an expensive peaker plant. In exchange for letting the utility (or a partner like Sunrun) tap a small amount of your stored battery power during those windows, homeowners get paid, credited, or given better terms on their solar and battery system. It's a simple trade: you get backup power and bill savings, the grid gets extra capacity exactly when it needs it most.
🔌 Why This Matters Right Now: How much a VPP program is worth to you depends heavily on which utility serves your home. Two very different situations are playing out right now in Southern California, and both point toward the same solution: pairing solar with a battery through Sunrun's Flex PPA.
What Sunrun's Flex PPA Actually Is
A Flex PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) is a no-upfront-cost way to add solar and battery storage to your home. Instead of buying the equipment, Sunrun installs, owns, and maintains the system, and you simply pay for the power it produces. The Flex structure sets a monthly minimum, and any usage above that minimum is billed at the Flex rate — so your costs stay predictable while Sunrun handles installation, monitoring, maintenance, and any equipment repairs or replacements for the life of the agreement.
Full Retail-Rate Net Energy Metering (NEM)
LADWP is a municipal utility, which means it isn't subject to California's NEM 3.0 rules that apply to SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E. Instead, LADWP customers remain on a traditional Net Energy Metering program that credits solar sent back to the grid at or near the full retail rate — roughly one-for-one. That's a meaningfully better deal than NEM 3.0's low per-kWh export rates, which means solar paired with a Flex PPA can pencil out strongly for LADWP homeowners, with a battery adding resilience and outage protection on top of an already favorable export rate.
| Utility | Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) |
| Metering Program | Traditional Net Energy Metering (not NEM 3.0) |
| Export Credit | At or near full retail rate, roughly one-for-one |
| Best Paired With | Sunrun Flex PPA (solar + battery, $0 down) |
Free Home Survey, Qualify for a Home Battery Installation
SCE customers paying over 30¢/kWh can qualify for a free Home Survey and qualify for a full Battery + Solar upgrade! To make that easier to access, qualifying SCE customers who sign up for a Sunrun Flex PPA are currently eligible for a free battery installation promotion — pairing solar and storage together without the added upfront cost of the battery itself.
| Utility | Southern California Edison (SCE) |
| Metering Program | NEM 3.0 (Net Billing Tariff) |
| Why a Battery Helps | Low export credit vs. high buy-back rates under NEM 3.0 |
| Current Promotion | Free battery installation for qualifying Flex PPA customers |
The Bottom Line
Whether you're on LADWP or SCE, the math points toward the same move: pairing solar with a battery through a Flex PPA. LADWP customers get to combine a battery's backup power with an already strong export rate, while SCE customers can now do it without paying upfront for the battery itself. Eligibility depends on your utility, your roof, and your current program's terms — so the best next step is a quick check to see what applies to your specific home.
Interested in seeing if your home qualifies for Free Installation?
Send an email and we'll check your utility, address, and program eligibility for the SCE free battery installation promotion or the LADWP NEM program.
Tap to copy the email address, then paste it into your mail app.
Program availability, VPP compensation, and promotional offers such as free battery installation vary by utility, service territory, and are subject to change or qualification requirements. Confirm current terms before signing any agreement.