Lightshift Energy and the Blue Ridge Power Agency (BRPA) have unveiled a partnership to deploy a portfolio of battery energy storage projects across rural Virginia, working with Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative (CBEC) and the City of Salem Electric Department (Salem). The first five projects – each about 5 MW and connected at the distribution level – are under construction and expected to come online in 2026, with the potential for additional BRPA projects.
The combined portfolio is expected to deliver around $100 million in savings over project lifetimes for BRPA members by discharging during peak‑demand periods, lowering transmission and capacity costs passed through to cooperative and municipal customers. The distribution‑connected design allows the batteries to support both local distribution networks and the broader PJM grid, improving reliability at a time of rising demand, data‑centre load growth and tight wholesale power supply.
Lightshift refers to this coordinated, multi‑project approach as VPP+, using fleets of grid‑side storage to act as a larger, dispatchable resource. The model is intended to accelerate capacity delivery more quickly than transmission‑connected projects while achieving economies of scale not possible with small behind‑the‑meter systems.
BRPA’s Alice Wolfe said the projects will help control rising capacity charges, while Lightshift’s Mike Herbert framed the partnership as a template for electric co‑ops and municipal utilities to lead in flexible, community‑benefiting storage deployment.
