Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) have been gaining traction in recent years as a way to decentralize power generation and increase grid resilience. However, one of the main challenges with DERs to date has been their operational unpredictability and random siting, often with little to no relation to grid needs or internal system planning. This is where Distributed Capacity Procurement (DCP) comes in – a game-changing utility-led DER program that brings together a package of aggregated and planned DERs, allowing utilities to specify and capitalize distributed energy resources in their territories and include customer-sited battery storage as a grid asset.
By integrating DERs into core planning efforts, utilities can accelerate the pace of deployment, support additional economic development and load growth, and lower the net cost to the grid. This is particularly important in the face of significant new load growth opportunities, such as data centers, electrification, and electric vehicle adoption. The DCP model allows utilities to meet the challenges of maintaining affordability, building resources fast enough to support economic growth, and continuing carbon emission reduction efforts.
The benefits of the DCP model extend beyond utilities and grid operators. Customers, project developers, and society as a whole stand to gain from the following outcomes:
Maximizing grid value through utility-led DER deployment lowers the total system cost. Promoting a local, competitive supply chain of vendors and suppliers to build and maintain the systems achieves the lowest cost to ratepayers.
The DCP model of utility-led DER deployment supports system resilience by providing backup power during outage events, reducing the impact of extreme weather events, enabling the grid to better withstand and recover from disruptions, and enhancing community preparedness.
A utility-led DER program like DCP demonstrates a strong commitment to equity by prioritizing the deployment of assets in underserved communities, ensuring access to the benefits of distributed energy technology for all customers, promoting energy justice, and reducing energy burden disparities.
The utility-led DER model accelerates clean energy deployment by increasing the adoption of solar, storage, and energy efficiency technologies, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting the transition to a low-carbon, energy-efficient economy.
By ensuring plentiful, low-cost, reliable power, the DCP model attracts companies to invest in utility territories, creating new jobs, supporting state and local tax revenue, and stimulating innovation. Local vendors also benefit from competitive solicitations to implement and maintain hundreds of MW of DERs, creating a vibrant supply chain and skilled workforce.
The DCP model reduces time to power by leveraging fast-to-deploy, modular DERs that can be quickly permitted, installed, and commissioned, providing a rapid response to evolving grid needs and supporting timely electrification efforts.
The DCP model represents a significant step forward in the deployment and integration of DERs, unlocking a wide range of benefits for utilities, customers, and society as a whole. By bringing DERs into core planning efforts and optimizing their deployment, the DCP model is poised to play a crucial role in the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable energy future.
Ready to explore how DCP can benefit your utility? Submit the form below to connect with our team and learn more about our utility-led DER program, DCP, and how we can help you unlock the power of targeted deployment. Our team of experts is ready to guide you through the process and help you achieve your grid modernization goals.