Economics is a more reliable and durable motivator than concern for the environment. If financing and contract structures that allow investors to earn profit by improving the economic productivity of energy can be put in place, the environmental damage caused by wasting energy can be more effectively mitigated than is possible through regulations, subsidies, and public education.The Virtual Power Plant project is an attempt to create regulatory, financing, and contract structures that allow investors to earn profit by improving the economic productivity of energy. The project started in 2001 (with the help of Jack Layton) and is ongoing. If load displacement CHP generators at multiple sites with one owner can be aggregated by contract and treated as one VPP by regulators and finance partners, it becomes like a wind farm that’s not all in one place.Small scale generation is just the start for aggregation as a tool for managing capital projects to improve energy productivity. If regulations permit the aggregated generation VPP to be financed through access to the rate base, the same model can be applied to energy efficiency equipment.Example – A Public Private Partnership involving a pension fund, Otis elevator, the City, and the LDC could replace the braking systems in elevators with regenerative electric braking. Instead of the brakes in an elevator producing waste heat as the car descends, they produce electricity. Since elevators operate primarily on peak, this initiative would lower peak demand. The LDC manages the project and it becomes part of the rate base as a DSM and load management initiative.