Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has announced the launch of SHARE โ Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency โ a first-of-its-kind Virtual Power Plant designed to help Bay Area communities benefit from rising electric demand while improving affordability and reliability for all customers.
The SHARE Virtual Power Plant initiative brings together an expansive coalition of industry partners including Rewiring America, Google, Carrier Global Corporation, Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home, Demand Side Analytics, encoord, and others to deploy a coordinated network of home batteries, smart devices, and battery-enabled heat pumps. This network is built to reduce energy use during periods of high demand, create additional grid capacity, and help put downward pressure on energy rates โ while participating households benefit through smarter energy management and next-generation home technology.
A New Approach to Meeting Rising Electric Demand
Electric demand is rising across the country as more businesses, vehicles, homes, and buildings rely on electricity. PG&E continues to build and modernize the electric system to meet long-term growth needs, including critical transmission and distribution investments.
SHARE adds a complementary, near-term pathway: investing directly in homes located where energy demand is growing. This proof-of-concept program is designed to demonstrate how targeted investments in residential properties can improve reliability and lower costs by making better use of flexible home energy resources alongside continued grid investment, expand capacity during periods of high demand, and support new and growing energy users more quickly.
“This is about delivering power at the speed our economy demands โ while improving affordability and reliability for the people we serve,” said Chelle Izzi, Chief Commercial Officer at PG&E. “SHARE shows how investing in customers can unlock grid capacity, support growth, and bring real benefits back to communities.”
Enrolling Existing Devices and Deploying New Technologies
PG&E is working with Tesla, Sunrun, and Renew Home to enroll nearly 21,000 existing flexible energy devices into the SHARE program. Participating households will gain new ways to manage their energy costs and earn rewards for smart features they already use, while demand is shifted during peak periods to make better use of existing infrastructure โ benefiting customers across the broader region. The resource is expected to begin supporting the grid as early as fall 2026.
“Home energy devices hold enormous, untapped capacity that can meaningfully improve affordability and reliability for all Californians,” said Mary Powell, Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun. “This initiative unlocks that potential while giving customers an opportunity to share in the economic benefits of helping improve their local grid.”
Carrier as Launch Partner for New Deployments
Carrier is the initiative’s launch partner for new technology deployments, providing its battery-enabled heat pump solution โ including the Carrier Performanceโข Series Variable-Speed Heat Pump with EnerSyncโข โ which automatically stores and shifts energy use to help lower costs for customers, maintain comfort, and support grid reliability during periods of peak demand.
“As energy demand grows, SHARE demonstrates how Carrier can help deliver distributed capacity with the firmness to scale as a fast and reliable grid resource,” said Hakan Yilmaz, President of Carrier Energy and Chief Sustainability Officer. “Carrier’s battery-enabled HVAC technology brings together our trusted comfort, market presence and dealer scale to help deliver homeowner value and reliable grid flexibility.”
Eligible customers in Santa Clara and Alameda counties will have the opportunity to receive new Carrier high-efficiency, battery-enabled heat pumps, lower monthly energy bills through smarter energy management, and greater comfort alongside improved home resilience.
Google Fully Funds the Program
SHARE is structured so that existing customers benefit from growing grid capacity needs and will be fully funded by Google to support customer incentives, technology deployment, and program delivery.
“As demand scales, our current electricity grid can bridge the gap โ if we optimize it correctly,” said Amanda Peterson Corio, Global Head of Energy and Power at Google. “This program unlocks the potential of local distributed energy resources to strengthen grid capacity and resiliency while delivering meaningful benefits for local communities.”