Partnerships Sales Associate

How Octopus & Voltus are bringing renewables to data centres. A new smart energy partnership between the UK's Octopus Energy and the US's Voltus is set to address the surge in electricity demand across US data centres Across the US, the inexorable rise of AI is creating a tidal wave of demand for electricity, which is putting pressure on the grid. To tackle this, Voltus, a virtual power plant (VPP) and distributed energy resource platform, has teamed up with Octopus Energy, one of the UK's leading clean-tech firms, to scale flexible load capacity and strengthen system resilience. The collaboration is set to build on Octopus' ongoing work with Masdar to optimise renewable energy flows in the UK. Both initiatives aim to release constrained grid capacity and accelerate the delivery of clean, dispatchable power for energy-intensive operations. The partnership will make use of Voltus' extensive portfolio of customer assets alongside Octopus Energy's optimisation software and consumer engagement capabilities, creating flexible solutions for utilities, system operators and the growing data centre sector. Flexibility-as-a-Service. Voltus and Octopus are rolling out Flexibility-as-a-Service and Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) programmes to expand the reach of responsive load resources. These services let organisations access flexible capacity without constructing new generation, while enabling site operators to contribute their own distributed assets - from EV charging infrastructure to on-site batteries - into aggregated virtual power plants. From 2026, Octopus will begin aggregating residential devices across the PJM, MISO, New York and California markets, combining smart thermostats, home batteries and EVs. Meanwhile, Voltus will incorporate this distributed resource into its existing VPPs, adding scale and diversity to flexible capacity across multiple grids. The approach allows real-time demand response during AI power surges, with Voltus customers also gaining access to Octopus's VPPs serving utility clients. Dana Guernsey, CEO of Voltus, says: "Octopus understands that load flexibility is the fastest to deploy form of capacity. "By combining our platforms and customer relationships, we can deploy VPPs at the accelerated scale and speed that is needed to meet today's load growth needs." Nick Chaset, CEO of Octopus US, adds: "The clean energy transition is creating an urgent, multi-billion dollar opportunity for demand side flexibility that Octopus Energy and Voltus can address with Flexibility-as-a-Service. "By combining the unique, complementary strengths of Octopus Energy and Voltus, we can move faster to deliver flexibility at the scale the grid needs, while putting money back in consumers' pockets." Unlocking renewable capacity in the UK. Back in the UK, Octopus is developing localised renewable energy systems with Masdar to relieve grid connection bottlenecks. As data centre and AI demands mount, Octopus is mapping underused grid capacity and integrating on-site generation, storage and flexible links to fast-track supply for commercial power users. Powered by Octopus's Kraken platform, these configurations balance generation and consumption across solar, batteries and the grid, ensuring stability while shifting load to lower-cost periods. Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, says: "This is about delivering projects that make energy cheaper, cleaner and unlock real opportunities for businesses and industry." Why digital infrastructure is demanding flexibility. The Voltus - Octopus partnership underlines how flexible energy platforms are becoming integral to digital infrastructure. By pooling resources from residential through to industrial assets, their model offers rapid deployment, reliability and cost-effectiveness, in contrast to traditional generation. Data centre operators are now able to monetise on-site assets and support grid stability through BYOC and flexibility programmes, improving efficiency during peak AI demand. Distributed aggregations also enable faster responsiveness than conventional gas peaker plants. Across both markets, these initiatives signal a step forward in aligning clean energy technology with grid reliability. As distributed energy resources proliferate, platforms like those developed by Voltus and Octopus demonstrate how virtual power plants can deliver a more flexible, decarbonised electricity system - one that's capable of powering both AI innovation and net zero progress. Company portals. Executives. * Dana Guernsey Chief Executive Officer * Greg Jackson Founder and CEO * Nick Chaset Chief Executive Officer

Voltus, Octopus launch 'bring-your-own-capacity' partnership. Virtual power plant provider Voltus is doubling down on the bring-your-own-capacity paradigm for data centers, via a partnership announced today with Octopus Energy U.S. Starting in 2026, Octopus will supply Voltus - which has previously specialized in commercial and industrial demand response - with aggregations of residential consumer devices in key markets including PJM, MISO, New York, and California. Voltus launched the first bring-your-own-VPP program for data centers last fall, in partnership with data center infrastructure developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure. Under that framework, hyperscalers can finance a VPP program in a capacity-constrained region, and then Voltus will deliver the megawatts from distributed resources directly to the local utility to offset the data center's load. This is an evolution of the contracting frameworks that hyperscalers have long used to transfer accredited capacity directly into a utility's portfolio to satisfy reliability requirements. It's designed specifically to help data centers bridge the capacity gap they're facing in the next five years, Voltus CEO Dana Guernsey told Latitude Media in September. This out-of-market financing structure has the potential to both bypass the yearslong interconnection queues for new generation, and, according to Octopus Energy U.S. CEO Nick Chaset, could help developers mitigate the significant hurdle presented by community opposition. It's also a workaround for the ongoing debate over what it means for data centers to be flexible, and whether grid operators can or should consider that potential in their planning. As Guernsey explained, data centers are much happier to pay for others to flex load than to flex their own. And while market analysts in places like PJM worry that an ISO's inability to physically shut off data center load will render promised flexibility useless from a grid planning standpoint, VPPs don't have the same deep pockets and are therefore much more sensitive to financial penalties levied for failure to respond. Making VPPs bankable. Voltus has been at the forefront of VPPs as a tool to enable the AI buildout for the better part of the last two years. And according to Caroline Golin, Google's former head of global energy, speaking on a recent episode of Open Circuit, the company has become the benchmark for where the wider industry needs to be heading. Last year, when Google was seeking large-scale flexibility capacity in PJM, Voltus was the only provider in the region up for absorbing the accreditation risk (meaning the financial liability if a grid operator doesn't credit a resource at its expected value) and able to provide a contract that looked like "every other PPA we've ever signed," Golin said. That made VPP capacity bankable for the hyperscaler, and is part of what pushed the VPP industry towards a tipping point in terms of dispatches and adoption, she added. In the past, it wasn't that Google and its peers didn't want or understand VPPs as a capacity solution, but rather that there wasn't a "menu" of ready-to-scale, standardized solutions for large energy buyers. CONFERENCE Transition-AI 2026 | San Francisco, CA | April 13 - 14. Join Latitude Media and industry leaders in San Francisco to explore what clean energy solutions are real and viable to meet and scale AI infrastructure demand. Part of Voltus' success has been its decision to install thousands of dollars worth of its own telemetry equipment at every commercial site, added Golin's co-host Jigar Shah, former head of the Loan Programs Office at the Department of Energy; the technology enables the company to get granular, real-time visibility into performance that many utilities keep under wraps. LPO - which has since been renamed the Office of Energy Dominance Financing - vetted dozens of VPP companies during Shah's tenure, he explained. Figuring out how to make their contracts bankable was a challenge, but making them look like standard wind and solar PPAs, as Voltus and Google were able to do, was essential. VPPs, and especially Voltus with its newly beefed up portfolio of assets, would likely be significant players in the proposed "emergency reliability backstop auction" in PJM in September, Shah added. That event stems from a proposal by the Trump administration and a bipartisan group of governors in the region, which called for a one-time auction as a way to curb electricity prices by requiring data centers to bid 15-year contracts to fund new power plants directly. PJM itself has proposed a similar plan as part of its Critical Issue Fast Path process that would also establish a reliability backstop to procure new generation. That said, it has not formally agreed to hold a September auction. If it happens, Shah said, it will be a "go-for-broke" moment for companies like Voltus. "I think these companies are all gearing up to bid 1,000 megawatts," he said. "There is nothing else that can actually deliver in a 12- to 18-month period." Transition-AI 2026, Latitude Media's flagship event at the center of the AI-energy infrastructure buildout, will convene developers, utilities, regulators, hyperscalers, and capital providers to move towards coordinated, sustainable solutions for AI-driven demand. Register now to secure the lowest rates and join us in San Francisco April 13-14.