Reshaping the Power Grid: Driving Resilience Through DERs

2 hours ago 2

Darrell Proctor

Fri, January 2, 2026 astatine 7:20 AM CST 8 min read

Distributed vigor resources are advancing the origin of a much resilient and reliable powerfulness proviso for utilities, homes and businesses, and more. Distributed vigor resources (DERs) person go a large portion of the powerfulness procreation landscape, peculiarly successful enactment of a much reliable and resilient grid. Generating energy from a assortment of sources, including fossil fuels and renewables (Figure 1), utilizing smaller-scale installations is present a cardinal constituent of request effect and vigor efficiency.

1. Wind turbines and rooftop star arrays tin supply on-site powerfulness procreation for commercialized and concern enterprises, lowering vigor costs for businesses. Source: Envato Elements

Utilities and autarkic powerfulness producers recognize that DERs tin supply needed capableness during strategy load peaks, which reduces the hazard of brownouts and blackouts. Microgrids, present a large contributor to the powerfulness proviso successful galore locations, connection reliability and resilience for generation, some for remote, off-grid sites, and successful areas that request powerfulness for captious infrastructure. DERs besides connection the accidental to little vigor costs for customers, by providing powerfulness and services adjacent to wherever they are used—an important information astatine a clip erstwhile precocious prices for powerfulness are a large taxable of discussion. Energy manufacture experts who spoke with POWER listed respective reasons DERs are taking a larger relation successful powerfulness generation. These include:

Backup Power. DERs tin supply powerfulness during outages, keeping homes, businesses, and captious infrastructure operating adjacent erstwhile the main grid is down.
Microgrids. These installations, fundamentally groups of DERs, tin run independently from the main powerfulness grid, supporting reliability for a tiny concern oregon a larger neighborhood.
Reduced Transmission Losses. A large taxable of treatment astatine POWER’s caller Experience POWER lawsuit was however producing energy astatine oregon adjacent the constituent of depletion minimizes vigor mislaid during long-distance transmission.
Lower Costs. DERs tin trim vigor bills by lowering the magnitude of energy consumers request from the utility. DERs besides tin optimize vigor use, charging batteries erstwhile vigor is inexpensive and discharging them during hours of highest demand.
Revenue Opportunities. Electricity consumers successful immoderate areas tin merchantability their excess powerfulness backmost to the grid, and besides tin beryllium portion of aggregated systems specified arsenic virtual powerfulness plants (VPPs).
Reduced Infrastructure Costs. Utilities and different powerfulness producers tin usage DERs to trim the request for costly upgrades to grid infrastructure.

“Absolutely utilities tin payment [from DERS],” said Hal Corin, manager of Development astatine Viridi, a artillery vigor retention provider. Corin was a talker astatine POWER’s caller Experience POWER league successful October of past twelvemonth successful Denver, Colorado. “Demand effect [DR] benefits utilities by avoiding the usage of astir costly peaker plants oregon less-desirable rolling blackouts,” said Corin. “They payment from DSM [demand-side management] by lowering comparative outgo of operations done reduced procreation portion achieving the aforesaid regulated instrumentality connected assets. Customers are mostly champion served wherever benefits travel to them and perchance connection possibilities for equity ownership.” “Utilities tin extract existent worth from DERs and price-responsive request resources. These tools tin enactment peak-shaving and amended wide reliability,” said Ken Irvin, a spouse astatine Sidley Austin and co-leader of Sidley’s planetary Energy and Infrastructure practice. “We’re already seeing palmy virtual powerfulness plants composed of load resources that dial backmost depletion erstwhile grid conditions oregon prices telephone for dispatch. Viewing request arsenic static and inelastic is an outdated mindset. With the quality to curtail load rapidly and precisely nether circumstantial conditions, DERs, VPPs, DSM, and DR programs are cardinal to the aboriginal of a reliable, efficient, and cost-effective electrical system.” Irvin continued, “From our vantage point, an ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy is what today’s vigor markets necessitate to guarantee reliable proviso that tin support up with increasing demand. Thermal units indispensable negociate their emissions, but doing truthful is wholly feasible—and these units stay invaluable sources of reliability. Spinning wide [a ample synchronous generator astatine a thermal plant, for example] is inactive highly adjuvant for maintaining grid frequency. In summation to vigor and capacity, the grid needs a wide array of ancillary services that thermal generators are often well-suited to provide. At the aforesaid time, technologies specified arsenic microturbines, substance cells, and CHP [combined vigor and power] systems connection flexible, localized procreation that tin beryllium highly effective.” Artificial quality (AI) besides is impacting DERs successful a assortment of ways. Those who spoke with POWER noted that AI enables grid optimization done amended forecasting and real-time load balancing. It besides supports the instauration of VPPs from connected DERs, on with the grid integration of renewable energy. “AI-driven optimization volition accelerate adoption. Smarter automation and easier installs volition marque vigor independency much accessible to mainstream homeowners,” said Rex Liu, vice president of Product Management, Clean Energy, astatine Generac.