In April EnergyHub became the first distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) provider to have more than one million distributed energy resources – including smart thermostats, electric vehicles and EV charging equipment, energy storage systems, water heaters, and more – under management. The company works with more than 60 utility clients across North America and hundreds of device partners to support DER-based virtual power plants.
"These devices collectively deliver 1.35 GW of flexibility across North America's electrical grid,” commented EnergyHub CEO Seth Frader-Thompson. "One million devices is a key achievement [itowards bringing about a] carbon-free, distributed energy future."
In 2022, the number of EVs participating in EnergyHub programmes increased by more than 200 %. To help with reliably navigating extreme weather and heavier demand for electricity utilities are adapting by using the growing number of customer-owned DERs on the grid as flexible resources. In 2022 the number of batteries increased more than 80 % year-on-year. The exponential growth of connected DERs promises much-needed load flexibility as more renewables come online – but only, says EnergyHub, if utilities can harness that flexibility when and where they need it with reliable VPPs.
For the USA to achieve 100 % renewable energy by 2035, between one and two terawatts of power generation would have to be decarbonised. That transformation will only be possible when huge flexibility – in the order of 500 GW – is available to match demand with the variable nature of renewables.
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