80% worry that AI data centers will drive up their electricity costs.
68% doubt utilities can keep up with rising demand.
81% experienced at least one power outage in the past year.
Perhaps most telling: Only 11% felt “very prepared” for their most recent outage.
“Most Americans already feel like the grid is bursting at the seams,” Paul Dickson, President of Sunrun, says. “Now we’re entering a new era with double-digit spikes in demand from data centers, and no short-term utility-scale solutions are ready at the pace we need.”
From Energy Consumers to Energy Collaborators
Despite the anxiety, the Sunrun survey also reveals a powerful shift in mindset: 91% of homeowners believe home solar and batteries strengthen the grid, and 92% say they’d be willing to share excess energy with neighbors during peak demand.
That’s not just a technology trend, it’s a cultural shift. Homeowners are beginning to see themselves not just as energy users, but as energy collaborators, participating in virtual power plants that provide real, dispatchable capacity when the grid is strained.
Sunrun already has over 200,000 batteries deployed in homes across the United States, with more than half enrolled in grid-service contracts. Those systems were dispatched over 700 times this past summer, pushing stored solar back to the grid when utilities needed it most and providing homeowners bill credits or checks for their participation.
“We’re turning a problem—unreliable, expensive power—into a product that offers stability, resilience, and even new revenue for homeowners,” Paul says. “It’s a genuine win-win.”
Full Cost, Not Just First Cost
At Green Builder Media, COGNITION Smart Data has been tracking a major shift in buyer behavior. Across generations, homeowners are finally prioritizing full cost of ownership, including monthly utility bills and resilience, over simple first cost and price per square foot.
Paul sees that same shift on the front lines of new-home sales. When buyers sit down to evaluate a home today, they’re not just asking about principal and interest. They’re also asking about trash, water, HOA fees, and, especially, energy.
Sunrun’s third party-owned model and its Sunrun Flex approach are designed to meet the moment with stable, predictable monthly payments for solar and storage over 25 years, with Sunrun taking responsibility for performance, maintenance, and battery replacement over the life of the contract.
For builders, this model turns solar + storage from a compliance headache or cost center, into an innovative affordability strategy and competitive differentiator.
Developers offering community-scale and battery storage systems are leveraging key selling points: predictable bills, backup power, energy independence, lower utility premiums (in some markets), and smarter insights into energy use.
Resilience as the New Affordability
With 71% of homeowners expecting another outage in the next year and extreme weather intensifying, resilience is becoming inseparable from affordability.
Sunrun is now adding batteries to more than 70% of its systems. That combination—local generation plus storage—delivers what central power plants can’t: fast, distributed capacity that can be dispatched in near real time to blunt peak demand, stabilize the grid, and keep homes powered when circuits go dark.
Paul is frank about where he thinks we’re headed. Central generation alone can’t build fast enough to keep up with the coming demand spikes from electrification and AI.
“I truly believe distributed solar generation is the solution to the energy crisis,” he says. “Sunrun can deploy more than a gigawatt of new generation each year. When you pair that with storage and intelligent dispatch, you get peak power in the most elegant, efficient way possible.”
Why This Matters for Builders and Developers
For the housing sector, this conversation isn’t theoretical. It’s about:
Reducing buyer anxiety with predictable, lower energy costs.
Improving absorption and sales velocity by baking resilience and price stability into the value proposition.
Participating in virtual power plants (VPPs) that turn homes into grid assets, not liabilities.
Aligning with a homeowner base that increasingly expects independence, control, and peace of mind.
The same forces that are driving grid instability—data centers, electrification, climate extremes—are also opening the door for a new model of home energy, one that rewards builders and homeowners who lean into distributed solutions instead of waiting for utilities to catch up.
As cofounder and CEO of Green Builder Media, Sara is a visionary thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability. A former venture capitalist, she has participated in the life cycle (from funding to exit) of over 20 companies, with an emphasis on combining sustainability and profitability. She lives in Lake City, Colo., with her husband, where she is an avid long-distance runner, snowboarder, and Crossfit trainer. She is also on the Board of Directors at Dvele, runs the Rural Segment for Energize Colorado, and is a former County Commissioner.
Distributed Power: The New Baseline for Housing
The grid’s breaking point is here. So is the opportunity.
A new national survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners conducted by solar company Sunrun found that:
Perhaps most telling: Only 11% felt “very prepared” for their most recent outage.
“Most Americans already feel like the grid is bursting at the seams,” Paul Dickson, President of Sunrun, says. “Now we’re entering a new era with double-digit spikes in demand from data centers, and no short-term utility-scale solutions are ready at the pace we need.”
From Energy Consumers to Energy Collaborators
Despite the anxiety, the Sunrun survey also reveals a powerful shift in mindset: 91% of homeowners believe home solar and batteries strengthen the grid, and 92% say they’d be willing to share excess energy with neighbors during peak demand.
That’s not just a technology trend, it’s a cultural shift. Homeowners are beginning to see themselves not just as energy users, but as energy collaborators, participating in virtual power plants that provide real, dispatchable capacity when the grid is strained.
Sunrun already has over 200,000 batteries deployed in homes across the United States, with more than half enrolled in grid-service contracts. Those systems were dispatched over 700 times this past summer, pushing stored solar back to the grid when utilities needed it most and providing homeowners bill credits or checks for their participation.
“We’re turning a problem—unreliable, expensive power—into a product that offers stability, resilience, and even new revenue for homeowners,” Paul says. “It’s a genuine win-win.”
Full Cost, Not Just First Cost
At Green Builder Media, COGNITION Smart Data has been tracking a major shift in buyer behavior. Across generations, homeowners are finally prioritizing full cost of ownership, including monthly utility bills and resilience, over simple first cost and price per square foot.
Paul sees that same shift on the front lines of new-home sales. When buyers sit down to evaluate a home today, they’re not just asking about principal and interest. They’re also asking about trash, water, HOA fees, and, especially, energy.
Sunrun’s third party-owned model and its Sunrun Flex approach are designed to meet the moment with stable, predictable monthly payments for solar and storage over 25 years, with Sunrun taking responsibility for performance, maintenance, and battery replacement over the life of the contract.
For builders, this model turns solar + storage from a compliance headache or cost center, into an innovative affordability strategy and competitive differentiator.
Developers offering community-scale and battery storage systems are leveraging key selling points: predictable bills, backup power, energy independence, lower utility premiums (in some markets), and smarter insights into energy use.
Resilience as the New Affordability
With 71% of homeowners expecting another outage in the next year and extreme weather intensifying, resilience is becoming inseparable from affordability.
Sunrun is now adding batteries to more than 70% of its systems. That combination—local generation plus storage—delivers what central power plants can’t: fast, distributed capacity that can be dispatched in near real time to blunt peak demand, stabilize the grid, and keep homes powered when circuits go dark.
Paul is frank about where he thinks we’re headed. Central generation alone can’t build fast enough to keep up with the coming demand spikes from electrification and AI.
“I truly believe distributed solar generation is the solution to the energy crisis,” he says. “Sunrun can deploy more than a gigawatt of new generation each year. When you pair that with storage and intelligent dispatch, you get peak power in the most elegant, efficient way possible.”
Why This Matters for Builders and Developers
For the housing sector, this conversation isn’t theoretical. It’s about:
The same forces that are driving grid instability—data centers, electrification, climate extremes—are also opening the door for a new model of home energy, one that rewards builders and homeowners who lean into distributed solutions instead of waiting for utilities to catch up.
By Sara Gutterman
As cofounder and CEO of Green Builder Media, Sara is a visionary thought leader and passionate advocate for sustainability. A former venture capitalist, she has participated in the life cycle (from funding to exit) of over 20 companies, with an emphasis on combining sustainability and profitability. She lives in Lake City, Colo., with her husband, where she is an avid long-distance runner, snowboarder, and Crossfit trainer. She is also on the Board of Directors at Dvele, runs the Rural Segment for Energize Colorado, and is a former County Commissioner.