Is this moment for distributed energy different? | Latitude Media
DERs are finally acting like real power plants. But utilities are still treating them like side projects. Distributed energy resources have never looked stronger. Fleets of batteries are now performing like gas plants, virtual power plants are dispatched daily, and hyperscalers are supporting new models to finance capacity around their data centers. But investor-owned utilities? The Edison Electric Institute says they’re planning more than a trillion dollars in new infrastructure over the next decade to support historic load growth — with no mention of DERs or flexibility as solutions. So which world are we living in? The one where DERs become essential infrastructure, or the one where they remain a rounding error for utilities? This week, we examine this critical moment for distributed resources. Tim Hade, a co-founder of Brightfield Infrastructure and former COO of Scale Microgrids, joins us to talk about the tug-of-war at the heart of the grid transition. We unpack a recent historic
Listen to the episode on: Distributed energy resources have never looked stronger. Fleets of batteries are now performing like gas plants, virtual power plants are dispatched daily, and hyperscalers are supporting new models to finance capacity around their data centers. But investor-owned utilities? The Edison Electric Institute says they’re planning more than a trillion dollars in new infrastructure over the next decade to support historic load growth — with no mention of DERs or flexibility as solutions. So which world are we living in? The one where DERs become essential infrastructure, or
related reading
- Base Power Company - Not Boring by Packy McCormicknotboring.co
- Report_23-13.pdfmedia.rff.org
- Decentralizing the Electric Grid | Andreessen Horowitza16z.com
- There Is No Power - by Strategist and Architect - TSCStscsw.substack.com
- Grid Storage: Batteries Will Win – Casey Handmer's blogcaseyhandmer.wordpress.com
- Four ways virtual power plants can help the US grid keep up with demandcanarymedia.com
- How to Save America’s Transmission System | IFPifp.org
- Why American data centers can't plug inworksinprogress.co
- San Francisco Climate Week 2025: AI x Energy, Gridlocked or Grid Unlocked? - E3ethree.com
- Solar | Hacker Newsnews.ycombinator.com
- Are markets the right tool for decarbonizing electricity?volts.wtf
- Roadmap: The AI data center stack - Bessemer Venture Partnersbvp.com