A massive shift is underway across the energy industry, highlighted by a recent analysis that indicates the U.S. electric power system is unprepared for significant, forecasted load growth. Utilities and grid operators have an ever-increasing need for short-term reliability and long-term resource adequacy, particularly as the clean energy transition unfolds. Amid global calls to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, utilities and grid operators are considering new approaches to meet growth, reliability, and clean energy needs.

Driven by a multitude of factors including federal, state, and local clean energy legislation and initiatives, a significant transformation is underway in the U.S. distributed energy resource (DER) market, which is set to almost double by 2027 from 2022 levels. With electricity demand growing for the first time in a decade and fossil assets retiring, the U.S. Department of Energy identified that “…deploying 80-160 GW of virtual power plants (VPPs)—tripling current scale—by 2030 could support rapid electrification while redirecting grid spending from peaker plants to participants and reducing overall grid costs.”

Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) will be key to addressing some of the energy transition’s most pressing challenges by enabling utilities to integrate and manage a broad range of DERs. Recently, SEPA had the opportunity to sit down with DERMS expert Sadia Raveendran, VP of Industry Solutions at AutoGrid, for a deep dive into key considerations for DERMS as utilities evaluate the broad range of impacts from increased DERs on their systems.