Torus Receives Commercial Energy Storage Approval for Rocky Mountain Power's Wattsmart Battery Program

Torus, Inc. has officially been approved as one of only two commercial battery providers to pass Rocky Mountain Power's rigorous testing standards for the Wattsmart Battery Program. This approval covers grid-scale energy storage systems ranging from 30 kW to 1.2 MW and strengthens Torus' role in advancing grid resilience and clean energy integration across the region. Rocky Mountain Power is a division of PacifiCorp.

This milestone builds on the January 2025 memorandum of understanding between Rocky Mountain Power and Torus to deploy a 70-megawatt demand response initiative capable of powering the equivalent of approximately 20,000 homes using Torus's Nova technologies. Announced with support from Governor Spencer Cox, the partnership advances Utah's Operation Gigawatt initiative to double the state's power production over the next decade.

“The Wattsmart program creates a more flexible and resilient grid while saving customers money, and Torus has proven their innovative systems can deliver.”
— Bill Comeau, VP Customer Experience & Innovation at RMP

"Commercial-scale energy storage is a necessary piece of the grid of the future, and Torus’ solutions have demonstrated their ability to integrate within the Wattsmart battery ecosystem," said Bill Comeau, Vice President of Customer Experience and Innovation at Rocky Mountain Power. "The Wattsmart program creates a more flexible and resilient grid while saving customers money, and Torus has proven their innovative systems can deliver."

The Wattsmart Battery Program is recognized in a detailed case study in the Department of Energy's 2025 Virtual Power Plants Liftoff Update as a "best-in-class battery virtual power plant, providing both bulk system level value and distribution system value." The report highlights that VPP solutions like Torus' can be deployed in six months, compared to 30-50 months for traditional generation resources – a critical advantage for meeting rapid demand growth.

During certification, Torus' systems achieved a 99 percent uptime score in telemetry testing and met IEEE 2030.5 communication protocol requirements for fleet-wide unplanned demand response. The Nova technology provides sub-250 millisecond response times, real-time frequency regulation, and voltage support for both 208 V and 480 V three-phase power. Torus' Nova Spin flywheel technology, recognized in TIME's Best Inventions of 2024, delivers a C-rating 10 times higher than traditional batteries and twice the operational lifespan.

“The bar for approval is incredibly high, and only the most robust and grid-ready systems make the cut.”
— Shawn Grant, Wattsmart Program Manager at RMP

"The bar for approval is incredibly high, and only the most robust and grid-ready systems make the cut," said Shawn Grant, Program Manager of the Wattsmart Battery Program. 

“Working closely with Shawn and the Wattsmart team, we made sure that Torus’ systems met the highest technical and operational standards. This certification represents a major step forward in embedding energy storage as a core asset in the modern grid,” said Dave Rackham, CXO of Software and Embedded Systems at Torus.

This approval enables commercial and industrial customers to deploy Torus' advanced energy storage solutions, providing critical capabilities including power quality management, uninterruptible power supply with sub-250 ms failover, long-duration backup, and on-site generation integration with automated dispatching.

“This certification represents a major step forward in embedding energy storage as a core asset in the modern grid.”
— Dave Rackham, CXO at Torus

In 2024, Torus dispatched 137 demand response events with its stack responding within 250 milliseconds and completing round trips in 8.7 seconds with 99.9% uptime. These deployments demonstrated the reliability and scalability of Torus' solutions in real-world applications.

“This milestone reinforces our commitment to pioneering energy storage solutions that deliver real value to businesses and the grid alike.”
— Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and Founder at Torus

“Being one of only two approved commercial battery providers by Wattsmart is a testament to our relentless focus on quality, performance, and grid-scale impact,” said Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus. “This milestone reinforces our commitment to pioneering energy storage solutions that deliver real value to businesses and the grid alike.”

With this approval, Torus is positioned to scale commercial deployments across the PacifiCorp service territory, helping businesses reduce energy costs and improve resilience while contributing to a smarter, more sustainable energy future.

Torus builds smart, secure mini power plants with full-stack solutions for energy storage, management, security, and generation. The company designs, engineers, and manufactures its systems in the United States. The innovative Torus Nova Spin flywheel energy storage system was recently recognized in TIME's Best Inventions of 2024 list. Headquartered in South Salt Lake City, Utah, Torus is committed to accelerating the transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy ecosystem. Learn more at www.torus.co.

Media Contact: press@torus.co