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Using the Mercury DERMS to meet grid-edge challenges

EnergyHub Team

February 18, 2021

EnergyHub has evolved over the years as our utility clients respond to DER adoption and decarbonization trends. We started out as the pioneer of BYOT demand response, and after more than five years of partnership with utilities across the country, we extended the capabilities of our Mercury DERMS platform and expanded our platform and services to enable utilities to meet their DER adoption and management goals. 

Recognizing that a majority of new DERs are being installed by consumers, our clients are implementing integrated DER strategies and are looking to EnergyHub’s grid-edge DERMS to manage all aspects of working with customer-owned DERs. Today, large multi-DER aggregations managed by EnergyHub are shaving peak load, shifting load, balancing intermittent renewables, and providing grid operators with new control levers for the distribution network.  

Managing customer-owned grid-edge DERs at scale has come with a unique set of challenges. These DERs are subject to a wide variety of constraints – from the limited evening-only availability of a residential EVSE, to the need to take into account the customer bill impact of behind-the-meter battery control – that make grid-edge assets significantly different from the types of assets utilities typically manage. Everything from the technical capabilities of each type of grid-edge DER to customer comfort concerns to factors such as weather and lifestyle needs to be taken into account.

Today, we provide utilities a turn-key DERMS platform and set of services that address all aspects of the grid-edge. We work with over 50 utilities to manage more than 1,800 MW of flexible load. 

We’ve released a new white paper outlining the definition of a grid-edge DERMS along with key capabilities. You can download a free copy of the white paper here

What is a grid-edge DERMS?

A grid-edge DERMS is the only platform that is built to manage the enormous complexity of accessing customer-owned DERs, integrating with these DERs to enable data flow and control, and making grid service management decisions across these diverse portfolios of behind-the-meter DERs. 

“EnergyHub’s fleet [grid-edge] DERMS manages the largest portfolio of customer-owned DERs in the US” – WoodMackenzie

EnergyHub’s grid-edge platform, the Mercury DERMS, is uniquely designed to orchestrate typically unmetered, variable, and customer-constrained DERs into mission-critical, virtual resources at scale for utilities. The platform transforms the diversity and complexity of utilities’ multi-DER portfolio directly into a strength, with widely varying resource profiles complementing each other to deliver a robust, flexible, and virtual resource. It also allows utilities to centrally manage DER operations from a single pane of glass, allowing them to monitor and optimize DERs in near-real-time to meet various utility objectives. The grid-edge DERMS delivers value across the enterprise – from end-customers to grid operations and market operations. 

The platform offers a number of features that specifically address the unique operational and ownership aspects of behind the meter grid-edge DERs: 

  1. Customer-centric resource formation and aggregation
  2. Multi-objective optimization
  3. Grid-edge situational awareness
  4. Repeatable DER integration approach 
  5. Robust infrastructure built to handle scale  

Bringing DERs into the utility control room

As the only enterprise platform that is built to bridge the gap between customer-owned assets and utility operations, EnergyHub’s grid-edge DERMS also plays a unique role in facilitating the interaction between other utility enterprise platforms and behind-the-meter DERs. The grid-edge DERMS can integrate with complementary distribution management and market operations systems, enabling a system-of-systems approach to implementing a holistic DERMS vision.

As DER portfolios reach a level of scale that is significant to grid management teams, EnergyHub’s grid-edge DERMS will integrate with the utility ADMS – allowing grid operators to reach behind-the-meter to assets for localized grid services and enhanced situational awareness. EnergyHub’s grid-edge DERMS is crucial to effectively reach behind the meter and tap into assets owned by end customers or utilities to provide localized grid services and a robust suite of analytics back to the control room. The unique capability of EnergyHub’s grid-edge DERMS to be customer-centric, scalable, and manage multiple DER classes, makes it a critical element of fully integrated, holistic utility planning and operations.

Interested in learning more about the relationship between the DERMS and ADMS? Download our whitepaper on the topic

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