The push to electrify is putting more strain than ever on our electric grid. At the same time, the energy transition means that more and more of our electricity is coming from renewable sources. Because renewable sources are intermittent, utilities have to constantly think about how to balance the grid to ensure reliable power around the clock. 

“We have this expanding capacity need, as utilities are shuttering fossil and bringing on more renewables,” says Jonathan “JT” Thompson, senior vice president of sales at Generac Grid Services. “As we all know, the grid needs to be in perfect balance every second of every hour of every day; if it's not, then the lights go out.”

Balancing the grid requires granular visibility into demand and supply, a task that has gotten much more complicated with the rise of distributed energy resources (DERs). The bottom-up buildout of customer-sited DERs means that customers are leveraging the utility grid in new ways. They’re installing solar panels, battery storage, EV chargers and smart thermostats, a trend that is only expected to grow. These DERs are transforming the grid into a two-way system connected to a huge number of potential generation and utilization points that can help balance supply and demand by curbing loads when demand is too high and utilizing excess capacity.

A lack of visibility into DERs hinders innovation

But all these DERs have created a blind spot for utilities when it comes to program planning and strategy decisions. Unless customers opt into data-sharing or upgrade their interconnection for smaller DERs, utility software systems, like distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), can’t see the available capacity sitting behind the meter (BTM). Advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) and related utility software don’t overcome this blind spot because they’re designed to visualize the grid in front of the meter (FTM). 

Insights into flexible capacity are critical for designing successful and cost-effective utility programs that improve customer satisfaction. In fact, Generac has identified more than 13 GW of DER capacity sitting behind the meters just of US utility customers using Generac products (residential, commercial and industrial generators, PWRcell batteries and ecobee thermostats). But these assets are not helpful to utilities in early program planning efforts because the utilities lack critical information about them for effective strategic planning. 

Take Texas. Generac has hundreds of thousands of active assets, ranging from smart thermostats to commercial and industrial generators to battery energy storage systems, installed in Texas. But only 5% of five gigawatts of flexible capacity available from those assets participate in any type of wholesale markets such as ERCOT or a utility-driven program. “There's money left on the table here because there's all this capacity that's just sitting out there,” says Thompson.

Leveraging data on DERs is critical for successful utility programs

Geographic visualization of DERs empowers utilities to plan strategic load management programs. For instance, it allows them to identify where excess generation from battery energy storage systems and generators may provide distribution system support. 

“I live northwest of Houston and the substation there is aging,” explains Thompson. “There's so much growth going on, so there is a need to overhaul it. Is there a program that they could set up that would allow them to not invest as much money in a [substation] overhaul? What DERs are there near that specific substation? Visibility and geospatial information are key to creating successful programs.”

Generac Grid Services shares the valuable information that its PowerINSIGHTS platform provides to utilities in early program conversations to reveal the hidden value of DERs sitting behind commercial and residential customer meters. This data, provided visually on an anonymized basis, enables utilities to design programs that capture high-value customer systems more efficiently and create pathways to increase the number of approved DERs within their territories.

“PowerINSIGHTS can reveal trends by showing you the number of DERs of all different types,” says Tim Dickson, chief information officer for Generac Power Systems. “We can show you a trending analysis in terms of the number, type and capacity being activated over time, the dealer that installed them and the utility that units are tied to.”

That capability is especially critical as more people install solar systems with batteries in the face of extreme weather and more frequent power outages. Extreme temperatures and increased power demand strain the power grid. When the grid is stressed, more visibility into the flexible capacity available for dispatch can help utilities ensure grid stability — and keep the lights on for their customers. And leveraging power stored in customers’ batteries creates a financial incentive for the customer. 

“It allows you to provide grid stability in a better way, but then it allows the homeowner or business to begin to monetize an investment that they've already made,” says Thompson. “It is such a win-win.”

Dickson is excited about the possibilities that full visibility into DERs would grant. “What can we do with those assets?” he asks. “How could we integrate them into [utility] systems and tools?” 

With the right visibility, the possibilities are electrifying. 

Learn more about PowerINSIGHTS and other Generac Grid Services technologies.