Torus's Grid Tech Earns Top Nod Amidst Surging Energy Demand

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – May 18, 2026 – Salt Lake City-based energy innovator Torus has been named a finalist for the 2026 Awards of Excellence by PLMA, The Flexible Load Management Community. The recognition places Torus’s advanced energy solutions in the spotlight for their pivotal role in enhancing grid reliability, a critical issue as the nation grapples with soaring electricity demand.

PLMA, the energy industry’s premier association for demand-side management, annually honors initiatives that demonstrate exceptional leadership and innovation in flexible load management. This practice involves dynamically shifting electricity demand to balance supply, a key strategy for integrating renewable energy sources and preventing grid overloads. Torus was selected from a competitive field of 22 nominees, underscoring the impact of its technology in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.

A New Standard for Grid Reliability

The nomination specifically celebrates Torus's work within PacifiCorp's grid, supporting the Rocky Mountain Power division's innovative Wattsmart Battery program. This program aggregates customer-owned battery systems into a coordinated virtual power plant (VPP), which can be dispatched to stabilize the grid during times of stress or fluctuation.

Throughout 2025, Torus systems demonstrated remarkable performance within the program, answering 359 VPP events and consistently delivering 102% of their contracted power target. Perhaps more impressively, the systems proved capable of ramping to full output in just 19 seconds with a near-perfect 99.9% reliability. This level of responsiveness and dependability is crucial for modern grids that must react instantly to intermittent renewable energy and sudden demand spikes.

The real-world success of this deployment prompted PacifiCorp to dramatically expand its partnership with Torus. In September 2025, the utility grew its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the company from an initial 70 MW to a staggering 500 MW, one of the largest commitments to American-made, grid-responsive energy storage projects to date.

"To qualify as an Awards of Excellence finalist or winner, a nominee's load flexibility initiative must demonstrate measurable impact on the reliability, performance, and sustainability of energy systems," said Michael Ohlsen, PLMA Awards Co-Chair. "These awards recognize organizations that are setting new standards for innovation and excellence in flexible energy load management."

The Technology Behind the Performance

At the heart of Torus's success is its unique "distributed mesh energy infrastructure," a full-stack solution that integrates hardware, software, and security. Unlike conventional battery-only systems, Torus employs a hybrid approach. Its Torus Nova Pulse provides long-duration battery storage, while the award-winning Torus Nova Spin utilizes flywheel technology—a mechanical battery that stores kinetic energy—to provide sub-second responses to grid disturbances.

This combination allows the system to handle both sustained power needs and absorb sharp, sudden power spikes, optimizing performance and extending the lifespan of the entire system. The entire network is managed by Torus Lasso, an AI-powered software platform that ensures optimal performance and predictive maintenance. This vertically integrated model, where Torus designs, manufactures, and maintains its systems in the United States, is a key differentiator, ensuring quality control and reducing supply chain vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, in an era of heightened digital threats to critical infrastructure, the company embeds cybersecurity directly into its platform. Offerings like the Torus Nova Shield and Torus Overwatch platform are designed to protect energy assets from cyberattacks, ensuring secure command and control with no internet-facing attack surface.

An Answer to Unprecedented Demand

The recognition of Torus's technology comes at a critical juncture for the U.S. energy sector. The grid is facing unprecedented strain from the twin pressures of mass electrification—including the transition to electric vehicles—and the explosive growth of AI-driven data centers. These data centers can introduce immense and unpredictable loads, challenging the stability of local and regional power grids.

Torus’s ability to provide rapid, reliable, and scalable power is positioned as a direct solution to this challenge. By creating a distributed network of responsive energy assets, its mesh infrastructure can help utilities manage these new loads without resorting to building costly and carbon-intensive peaker plants. The success of VPPs like the Wattsmart program demonstrates a viable path to enhancing grid capacity and resilience by leveraging distributed resources already connected to the grid.

"As electricity demand accelerates, utilities need infrastructure that can improve reliability, integrate distributed energy resources, and respond dynamically to changing grid conditions," said Nate Walkingshaw, co-founder and CEO of Torus. "This recognition reflects the work our team is doing to help build that future."

A Competitive and Collaborative Landscape

Torus was recognized alongside a formidable group of industry leaders, including utility giants Xcel Energy and Con Edison, automotive and energy heavyweight Tesla, and technology providers Itron and The Mobility House. Being named a finalist among such established players validates the company's innovative approach and its growing influence in the sector. While competitors often focus on a single piece of the puzzle—be it battery hardware, V2G technology, or utility-run demand response programs—Torus’s strategy is to provide a holistic, integrated solution from a single provider.

To share insights from these groundbreaking projects, PLMA will host a series of educational webinars from June through November 2026. These sessions will feature the finalist and award-winning teams sharing lessons learned and challenges overcome, providing a valuable resource for the broader industry. The series will also be published on PLMA's YouTube channel and its Load Management Dialogues podcast, ensuring the knowledge from these pioneering efforts continues to advance the future of energy management.