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How does ComEd's virtual power plant program work?

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Published July 21, 2026 · Last reviewed September 3, 2026, against the filed tariff text · ~30 min read · By The Day Company Editorial Team

What is a virtual power plant?

A virtual power plant is a group of home batteries working together like one power plant. Rather than build new generation, the utility arranges for many homeowners to release small amounts of stored power at the same time. The U.S. Department of Energy describes it as linking many small energy resources so they act as one resource for the grid.

Illinois required this. The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA), enacted as Public Act 104-0458 on January 8, 2026, directs utilities like ComEd to build these programs. ComEd's version is Rider SDVPP — the Scheduled Dispatch Virtual Power Plant.

Just want to know if this applies to your home? Jump to the 5-question checker — it reads straight from the filed tariff.

Which ComEd "virtual power plant" are you asking about?

This is where most confusion starts. ComEd has more than one program that gets called a virtual power plant, and they pay different people for different things on different timelines. The battery program — SDVPP — is the one that starts in 2027. A thermostat-based demand response program has been running for years already. They are not the same thing.

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If someone told you ComEd's virtual power plant is "already paying people," they may be describing the thermostat program, not the battery program. Everything below is about Rider SDVPP — the battery one.

Ameren has its own program — is this the right page?

If Ameren Illinois is your utility, this page describes a tariff you cannot join. Illinois has two scheduled-dispatch virtual power plants, not one: ComEd filed Rider SDVPP and Ameren filed its own, both on June 1, 2026, both under the same state law, and both taking effect July 16, 2026.

The programs are near-identical where both have published. Same statute, same dispatch window of 4 to 6 p.m. on summer weekdays, same 2027 launch. The meaningful difference is disclosure: ComEd has published what it pays and how long you're committed. Ameren has not. When we last checked Ameren's tariff library — August 7, re-checked September 3, 2026 — the rider text was still absent, with the sheet assigned to it reading "For Future Use," and Ameren's own DER Bulletin 2026-04 defers the rate and term to its ICC docket.

That gap matters if anyone quotes you an Ameren figure. There isn't one — and a number presented as Ameren's payment is almost certainly ComEd's $10 per kW-Season relabelled. What Ameren has confirmed, and what it hasn't, is set out on how Ameren's virtual power plant program works. For the statewide battery-incentive picture across both utilities, see Illinois battery incentives, explained. If it's the bill itself you're trying to understand, that's why is my Ameren bill so high.

How does ComEd's SDVPP actually work?

Every summer — ComEd calls it the "Season," June 1 through September 30 — your battery is scheduled to send stored power to the grid on weekday afternoons between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Central. ComEd measures what you send at your smart inverter, averages it across every hour in the dispatch window for the whole Season, and pays you once a year after the Season ends.

The name tells you the important part. Scheduled dispatch means the window is fixed and known in advance — the same two hours every weekday, all Season. It is not an emergency call-out.

ComEd Rider SDVPP, Sheets 471–476. Community supply projects have a longer window of 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Times are Central.

One wrinkle worth knowing before you sign: the tariff averages your injections across every hour in the Season's dispatch window, not just the hours after you joined. Join partway through a Season and the hours before you started still count in the denominator — which drags your average, and your payment, down for that first year.

How much does ComEd actually pay?

Real money, sent to you once a year, for something your battery is already capable of doing. ComEd pays $10 for every kilowatt your battery averages during the 4–6 p.m. window, all Season — and that $10 is a floor set by state law, not a ComEd decision, so it can only go up from here.

Picture a typical Illinois home: a 9 kW solar system paired with a 13.5 kWh battery — the most common size installed in the state (how to size a system from your own usage, not your square footage), and today's version of it typically outputs 11.5 kW continuously. Here's what that's worth on its own, and what a second battery would add:

Illustrative, at the published $10/kW-Season rate and the $300/kWh storage rebate, on two 13.5 kWh batteries with typical output — your installer confirms what your home's electrical service can actually support. The rebate is a one-time check per battery; the VPP payment repeats every Season for the 5-year term.

Have a quote in hand? The rebate page's three-step rebate tool runs your battery size, the eligibility gates and both commitments in one read.

Be skeptical of anyone who tells you this payment alone makes a battery "pay for itself" — it doesn't, and this program was never designed to. The larger financial pieces are ComEd's battery storage rebate — separate from the solar-only rebate if you're weighing both — and how your battery performs day to day under your rate plan. What the equipment actually costs in this state is on how much do solar panels cost in Illinois, and whether a battery makes sense at all is a separate question we answer separately: is a home battery worth it in Illinois? The state's fuller incentive picture — RECs, the solar rebate, net metering — is on Illinois solar incentives 2026.

Do you have to join, or is it your choice?

It depends on one date most sources never mention. If you received ComEd's battery rebate on or after June 1, 2026, participation is mandatory. If you received that rebate before June 1, 2026, or never took it at all, participation is entirely your choice.

This matters most if you already have a battery. A homeowner who took the rebate in early 2026 is in a different position from one taking it now, and the difference is written into the tariff. The rebate's own dollar terms and application steps live on our ComEd battery storage rebate guide.

Does taking the rebate lock you into hourly pricing for life?

This is the part almost nobody connects. Taking ComEd's battery rebate starts two separate commitments of different lengths: five years in the virtual power plant, and a Qualifying Utility Product — Rate BESH, ComEd's hourly pricing supply rate, is one option, not the only one — for as long as you own the battery. The second one has no end date.

Rate BESH is one Qualifying Utility Product — ComEd's rebate page lists enrolling in BESH as one way to satisfy this condition, but the terms themselves don't limit you to it. A battery can easily outlast a five-year program term. So can this obligation, on whichever qualifying rate you end up on.

SDVPP term: ComEd Rider SDVPP, Sheets 471–476. Qualifying Utility Product requirement: ComEd Distributed Generation Rebate Terms and Conditions, 2026 edition. Both are linked in Sources.

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Hourly pricing is not automatically bad — Rate BESH specifically is the same rate that lets solar credits offset an entire ComEd bill, delivery charges included, which we explain in ComEd net metering. The full hour-by-hour mechanics, including a documented $0-bill month, are on our ComEd Hourly Pricing + solar page — worth reading before you pick which Qualifying Utility Product to land on, since it moves with the market and you're agreeing to it for the life of an asset. And whichever rate you land on, what a ComEd bill actually looks like after solar — fixed charges included — is worth seeing before anyone promises you otherwise. Ask ComEd to name every option in writing before you accept a rebate.

Sourcing note: this page cites ComEd's 2026-dated Distributed Generation Rebate Terms and Conditions, which uses the broader "Qualifying Utility Product" language. An earlier 2024-dated version of the same document named Rate BESH specifically — both are linked in Sources.

What exactly are you agreeing to?

More than a payment arrangement. Under the filed tariff, a participant agrees to change how the battery operates, to give ComEd access to the battery and its smart inverter data, to keep the battery physically in place for the full term, to prioritize this commitment above any conflicting one, and to indemnify ComEd in two specific ways.

• Five years, defined precisely. The Program Term is a partial first Season plus the four complete Seasons after it. The tariff adds that a 5-year term applies "unless otherwise directed by law, including any statutory requirement to transition to a subsequent tariff."
• The battery stays put. It "must be fixed in place on the Customer premises for a period of time not less than the SDVPP Program Term."
• Mode of operation changes. You agree to modify how the battery operates so it dispatches during the window, and to provide access to the facility and smart inverter data.
• This commitment outranks your others. Participants "have agreed to prioritize their System Injection commitment(s) under this tariff over any other potentially conflicting commitment(s)."
• You indemnify ComEd twice — against liability for personal injury or property damage arising from the interconnection or operation of the battery, and against liability for inaccuracies in your warrant that you're entitled to use the smart inverter functionality.
• No double-dipping. You can't have already committed the same injections to someone else, and ComEd may reduce your credited amount if you're paid by another grid-services program in the same hours.

None of that makes the program a bad deal. It does mean it's a contract, and it deserves to be read like one.

Can you get out once you're in?

Only if you joined voluntarily. The tariff gives an exit right specifically to participants who are not obligated by the rebate — they can notify ComEd, and termination takes effect December 31 of the year notice is given. For participants who are in because they took the rebate, the rider states no exit right at all.

Two things the tariff does not say, which we won't guess at: there is no monetary exit penalty anywhere in Sheets 471–476 — the only dollar figure in the rider is the $10/kW-Season rate — and there is no provision addressing what happens if you sell the house or move. Ask ComEd directly, in writing, before committing.

Separately, ComEd can remove a participant immediately if it determines the participant intentionally interfered with the battery so that it misreports dispatch.

What's in the tariff that nobody mentions?

Four provisions sit in the filed rider that we haven't seen covered anywhere else. None is a scandal. All four change how the program actually feels to live with, and all four are worth knowing before a five-year commitment.

• ComEd can tell you to stand down — and you don't lose credit. On a bypass notification you'll be asked to bypass your injection commitment "without incurring any reduction to the calculated value of System Injections provided for the applicable Season." That's in your favor.
• You can't stack paid grid programs in the same hours. If you're being compensated by another grid-services program during the dispatch window, ComEd "reserves the right to reduce the Participant's respective Load Reductions to prevent double counting."
• Joining mid-Season costs you. Your injections are divided by the whole Season's dispatch hours, including the ones before you enrolled.
• Interruption liability sits with you. The rider states ComEd "is not liable for any damage or injury, including any consequential damage, resulting from the intentional or unintentional interruption of electric service provided to a Participant."

On backup power specifically: the rider says nothing about islanding, reserve capacity, or your ability to use the battery during an outage. The closest thing to an answer is the priority clause above. That's a real unanswered question, and it's the right one to put to ComEd before you enroll.

Why every quote here comes from the ICC — not from ComEd's website

ComEd's rebate page tells you SDVPP participation is required and points you to the rider — but as of our checks on August 4 and again on September 3, 2026, the text of Rider SDVPP isn't published anywhere on comed.com. The only public copy is the compliance filing at the Illinois Commerce Commission, which is where every quotation on this page was read.

That matters in a sales conversation. If a rep summarizes the program, ask for the sheets — Rider SDVPP, 2nd Revised Sheets 471 through 476 — rather than a description of them. The filing is linked in Sources; it runs six pages and takes about fifteen minutes to read. Anything you're told that isn't on those pages is either from the rebate terms — a different document, also linked below — or isn't published yet.

Who's eligible to join?

Any ComEd customer with an eligible battery behind their meter, interconnected through a qualifying smart inverter, can participate. There's no minimum size requirement on the amount you commit. Customers on Rider NAM — ComEd's rate for customers without a smart meter — are excluded outright.

• Smart inverter required. The tariff defines it as a device converting DC to AC that meets IEEE 1547-2018; until such devices are available, UL 1741 (SA) devices are acceptable. It must conform to the Required Smart Inverter Settings section of Rider DG REBATE.
• No minimum commitment. The participant agreement "contains the committed System Injections for the SDVPP Program Term, as identified by the Participant. There is no minimum commitment required." That refers to how much you commit — not to whether the term is optional.
• One agreement per premises. You may have more than one battery, but only one participant agreement covering all of them at a given premises.
• Someone else may collect the payment. Where the battery is owned by an entity other than the participant, the tariff allows that "Project Owner" to be designated as the recipient of the annual compensation. The tariff does not use the words "lease," "leased," or "third-party" — so if your battery isn't yours outright, get the payment arrangement in writing.

A solar rep mentioned a "virtual power plant" — what's real today?

The program is real, approved, and written into a filed tariff. But it isn't open, the payment is modest by law, and some of what's being repeated in the market is either out of date or describes a different program entirely.

What homeowners tell us they've heard: that a battery "could earn thousands a year," that VPP payments make a battery "pay for itself," or that you "can enroll now."

What the filed tariff actually says: the rate is $10 per kW-Season. Service begins no later than March 1, 2027, and enrollment is not open. And if you take the battery rebate on or after June 1, 2026, joining isn't a perk you opt into — it's required.

A note on dates you may see elsewhere: the 2026 law required ComEd to establish a program by mid-2026, which several sources have repeated as though it were an enrollment date. It isn't. Establishment happened; enrollment hasn't.

Before you sign anything: get every earnings or savings claim in writing — including any mention of an Illinois state solar tax credit, which does not exist. Get more than one quote, and vet the one in your hand — if the loan price runs above the cash price, that gap is a dealer fee. Check that the company is registered with Illinois Shines — here's exactly how to verify one in under five minutes. And know where to go if something feels wrong — Illinois Shines (1-877-708-3456), the Illinois Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Hotline (1-800-243-0618), or the Illinois Commerce Commission.

Separately, a newer kind of offer has appeared in ComEd territory that bundles a home battery with a non-utility electricity supply plan, sometimes described as a virtual power plant. These are not ComEd's SDVPP program and operate on entirely different terms — the battery agreements run 12 to 15 years and neither offer works alongside rooftop solar. We compare both from their own contracts on free home battery offers in Illinois, explained, and the Citizens Utility Board has published a neutral Q&A of its own.

When can you actually enroll?

Not yet. What's confirmed: the compliance tariff was filed June 1, 2026 and took effect July 16, 2026, and service must begin no later than March 1, 2027. ComEd announced regulatory approval on June 30, 2026. What isn't published is when and how you'll actually sign up.

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Should you wait for the VPP before deciding on solar or a battery?

No — and the two decisions are less connected than they look. The virtual power plant is a modest annual bonus attached to a battery, not a reason to own one. Nothing about the program rewards waiting. Three things about waiting do have a measurable cost, and all three are documented rather than asserted.

Does this program apply to you?

Five questions, answered from the filed tariff. Nothing is submitted and nothing is stored — this runs in your browser.

How do you get battery-ready before launch?

You can't enroll yet, but the equipment path is already defined: a battery behind your meter, interconnected through a smart inverter meeting ComEd's required settings. That's the same equipment standard as the battery rebate, so a qualifying installation now will already meet the requirement when enrollment opens.

There's no published deadline on the program itself. There is a real clock on everything else, for the reasons set out above. If you want to know whether a battery makes sense for your home at all, a free eligibility check takes about a minute and will tell you if it doesn't.

The terms, in plain English

Rider SDVPP

The filed ComEd tariff that creates the Scheduled Dispatch Virtual Power Plant. "Rider" just means an add-on set of rules attached to ComEd's main rate schedule.

Season

June 1 through September 30 of a calendar year. Dispatch only happens inside the Season.

SDVPP Dispatch Window

4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Central, Monday through Friday, during the Season. Community supply projects get 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

System Injections

The power your battery sends to the grid during the dispatch window, measured in kilowatts at your smart inverter and averaged across every hour of the window for the Season.

kW-Season

The unit ComEd pays on. One kilowatt of average injections across a full Season earns $10.

SDVPP Program Term

Five years: a partial first Season plus the four complete Seasons after it.

Qualifying Utility Product

The category of ComEd supply rates that satisfies the battery rebate's life-of-facility requirement. Rate BESH is one option; ComEd's rebate page names it as one way to qualify, not the only one.

Rate BESH

ComEd's hourly-priced supply rate — one Qualifying Utility Product among others. Required by the battery rebate only if you choose it to satisfy that requirement; not required by the VPP program itself.

Rider NAM

ComEd's rate for customers without a smart meter. Customers on it cannot join the VPP.

Project Owner

The entity that owns the battery when that's someone other than the participant. May be designated to receive the annual payment.

CRGA

The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, Public Act 104-0458, enacted January 8, 2026 — the law requiring Illinois utilities to build these programs.

ComEd Virtual Power Plant FAQ

When does ComEd's VPP start? Can I sign up now?

No. The tariff took effect July 16, 2026, and ComEd must begin offering service no later than March 1, 2027. Enrollment isn't open, and ComEd hasn't published when or how you'll sign up.

How much does ComEd pay for my battery?

$10 per kilowatt-Season, paid annually after each Season ends, based on your average injections across the dispatch window. State law sets that as a floor that regulators may raise. ComEd hasn't published typical earnings, and neither do we.

Should I wait for the VPP before going solar?

No. The program is a modest annual bonus attached to a battery, not a reason to own one, and waiting has documented costs. Illinois Shines capacity in the small distributed generation category was fully utilized by May 6, 2025 in the 2024-25 program year, PJM capacity costs are locked in elevated through May 31, 2029, and permitting plus interconnection take months. The one decision worth slowing down on is the battery rebate, because taking it on or after June 1, 2026 makes VPP participation mandatory and attaches a Qualifying Utility Product requirement for the life of the battery.

How is Ameren's virtual power plant different?

Both utilities filed on June 1, 2026 under the same state law, with identical dispatch windows and 2027 launches. The difference is disclosure: ComEd has published its rate and its five-year term, and Ameren has not — as of our September 3, 2026 check, Ameren's rider text was still absent from its own tariff library, and its DER Bulletin 2026-04 defers the rate and term to its ICC docket. Any specific Ameren payment figure you are quoted is almost certainly ComEd's $10 per kW-Season relabelled.

Do I have to be on hourly pricing to join the VPP?

Not for the VPP itself. The words "hourly" and "Hourly Pricing" appear nowhere in Rider SDVPP, which states it applies to Rates BES, BESH, BEST and RDS. A Qualifying Utility Product requirement comes from the battery rebate instead, for the life of the battery — Rate BESH is one option that satisfies it, not the only one.

Is joining automatic if I take the battery rebate?

If you received the rebate on or after June 1, 2026, participation is required. If you received it before that date, or never took it, participation is your choice. That date is written into the tariff's Purpose section.

How long am I locked in?

Five years — a partial first Season plus the four complete Seasons after it. The battery must stay fixed in place at your home for at least that long.

Can I quit the program early?

Only if you joined voluntarily. Participants not obligated by the rebate can give notice, effective December 31 of that year, and may reapply later. The rider states no exit right for participants who are in because they took the rebate.

Is there a penalty for leaving?

No monetary penalty appears anywhere in Rider SDVPP. The only dollar figure in the rider is the $10/kW-Season rate. That isn't the same as a guarantee there's no cost, so confirm with ComEd before enrolling.

What happens if I sell my house?

The rider contains no provision addressing sale, relocation, or transfer of service. It does require the battery to stay fixed in place for the program term. Get ComEd's current answer in writing before committing.

Will my battery still back up my home during an outage?

The rider doesn't address backup, islanding, or reserve capacity. It does say participants agree to prioritize their injection commitment over any other conflicting commitment, and that ComEd isn't liable for damage from service interruption. Ask ComEd directly.

Can I be in ComEd's VPP and another paid grid program at the same time?

Partly. If you're compensated by another grid-services program during the dispatch window, ComEd reserves the right to reduce your credited load reductions to prevent double counting in those hours.

What if I join partway through the summer?

Your injections get divided by the total dispatch hours for the entire Season, including the hours before your service began. That lowers your average — and your payment — for that first partial Season.

Do I need a battery, or does solar or a smart thermostat count?

You need a battery. Solar panels alone don't qualify for this program. ComEd's thermostat demand-response program is a separate, already-running program, and the broader device program is separate again.

What size battery do I need?

The tariff sets no minimum. The participant agreement records the injections you commit to, and states there is no minimum commitment required. You do need a qualifying smart inverter.

What if my battery is owned by someone else?

The tariff allows a "Project Owner" — an entity that owns the battery when that differs from the participant — to be designated as the recipient of the annual payment. Get that arrangement in writing before signing anything.

Is this the same as net metering?

No. Net metering credits your bill for solar power your panels export, year-round. This pays a separate annual amount for battery power delivered during a specific summer weekday window.

Is the ComEd VPP a scam?

No. It's a filed tariff — Rider SDVPP, filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission on June 1, 2026 and effective July 16, 2026, under a 2026 state law. It simply isn't open for enrollment yet.

Where can I read the actual text of Rider SDVPP?

At the Illinois Commerce Commission, in compliance filing 399541 — Rider SDVPP, 2nd Revised Sheets 471 through 476. As of September 3, 2026, ComEd's own website references the rider on its rebate page but doesn't publish the text, so the ICC filing is the only public copy. It's linked in the Sources section; ask any rep for those sheets rather than a summary of them.

Related answers

Sources

• ComEd Rider SDVPP — compliance tariff filing, ICC filing 399541 (icc.illinois.gov). Filed June 1, 2026; effective July 16, 2026. Rider SDVPP 2nd Revised Sheet Nos. 471–476. Every tariff quotation on this page was read from this document.
• 220 ILCS 5/16-107.6 (ilga.gov) — the statute, as amended by Public Act 104-0458, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, enacted January 8, 2026.
• ComEd — Distributed Generation Rebates (comed.com), for the SDVPP participation condition attached to the rebate.
• ComEd — Distributed Generation Rebate Terms and Conditions, 2026 edition (linked from ComEd's Distributed Generation Rebates page), for the Qualifying Utility Product life-of-facility requirement quoted in full above.
• Ameren Illinois DER Bulletin 2026-04 (ameren.com), for Ameren's SD VPP rebate condition and its deferral of rate and term to the ICC docket.
• Illinois Power Agency — Appendix D, 2026 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan (PDF) (October 2025), for the small distributed generation category's capacity being fully utilized by May 6, 2025, and for the expiry of the federal residential credit.
• PJM — 2028/2029 Base Residual Auction results (insidelines.pjm.com), for the $325 per MW-day clearing price and the delivery year ending May 31, 2029.
• Citizens Utility Board — Solar and Storage Rebates in Illinois (March 2026 fact sheet).
• U.S. Department of Energy — Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Virtual Power Plants (energy.gov).
• Illinois Shines — Consumer Complaint Center.
• Illinois Attorney General — Consumer Protection Division.