This year, three EnergyHub clients — LUMA, National Grid, and Ontario IESO (OEISO) — were named Fortnightly Top Innovators in recognition of their groundbreaking grid flexibility programs. Each utility has demonstrated how advanced technology and customer-centric program design can combine to deliver a more reliable, affordable grid for all.

LUMA: Building reliability with customer-sited batteries

Puerto Rico has faced repeated disruptions to its electric system in recent years, from hurricanes to earthquakes. Traditional grid modernization, while important, was not enough to meet the urgent need for reliability improvements. LUMA Energy’s Demand Response team stepped up with an approach that is both practical and transformative: tapping into the widespread adoption of solar-plus-storage across the island.

Eighty-five percent of solar customers in Puerto Rico also have batteries, creating a massive behind-the-meter opportunity. LUMA worked with EnergyHub to aggregate these customer-sited batteries into a virtual power plant (VPP), enrolling tens of thousands of devices that can be dispatched in moments of grid stress. In practice, this means batteries can step in during generation shortfalls to keep lights on, support local reliability, and bridge gaps until other resources recover.

LUMA’s program has already grown to more than 69,000 active participants and continues to expand. Customers benefit directly through incentives and affordable backup power, while communities benefit from fewer outages and improved resilience. LUMA’s work shows how utilities can unlock value by leaning into customer adoption of new device types and creating shared purpose between utilities and their customers.

National Grid: Using AI to make VPPs behave like power plants

In the northeast United States, National Grid has been testing how artificial intelligence can unlock new VPP capabilities. Their Distributed Energy Resources Program team piloted EnergyHub’s Dynamic Load Shaping functionality, a new way of orchestrating devices that moves well beyond traditional demand response.

In partnership with EnergyHub, the team used AI and machine learning to coordinate 20,000 smart thermostats and 2,400 residential batteries during a single four-hour event. Instead of scheduling one-off device actions, dynamic load shaping continuously adjusted dispatch to create a smooth, sustained load shape with minimal snapback once the event ended. The result looked more like the steady performance of a traditional power plant than the spiky load shapes often associated with demand response programs.

For customers, the impact was subtle—shorter events and minimal disruption to comfort. For the grid, the impact was significant: sustained, predictable load reduction and lower costs. By showing that VPPs can behave like traditional fossil fuel power plants, National Grid has provided a blueprint for how utilities can make VPPs a more central part of their resource stack.

Ontario IESO: Partnering with customers to build Canada’s largest VPP

Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) launched Peak Perks™ in June 2023 with a clear goal: ease summer peaks

 using smart thermostats—without compromising comfort. Within six months, the program had over 100,000 homes enrolled, making it Canada’s largest residential VPP. Today, more than 250,000 devices participate, consistently delivering over 180 MW of peak load reduction.

Peak Perks shows how a thermostat-only VPP can deliver fast, verifiable results at utility scale. It’s a blueprint others can follow: start with simple enrollment, leverage existing devices, and focus on reliable peak reductions that customers barely notice—but grid operators feel immediately.

Driving innovation together

What unites these three award winners is a commitment to partnering with customers to deliver a more reliable, affordable power system. We’re proud to partner with utilities that are pushing the boundaries of what virtual power plants can achieve.

Congratulations to LUMA, National Grid, and Ontario IESO on being named Fortnightly Top Innovators 2025 and showing the industry what the future of the grid can look like.