Overview

• Operational virtual power plant capacity reached 37.5 GW in 2025, up 13.7% year over year, indicating the market is broadening faster than it is deepening.
• Active deployments climbed to 1,940, a 33% increase from 2024, while monetized programs grew 35% to 433, according to Wood Mackenzie.
• The number of unique offtakers rose about 38%, with the top 25 each procuring at least 100 MW and the largest disclosed offtake concentrated in PJM and ERCOT alongside utility data center commitments.
• Capacity growth is being held back by enrollment caps on utility programs, reduced capacity accreditation in power markets, and hurdles for small customers, even as the residential share of wholesale VPP capacity rose to 10.2%.
• An emerging 'independent distributed power producer' model is financing third‑party storage through grid services and arbitrage, while California’s legislature ended funding for the DSGS VPP program, signaling policy headwinds.