Platform
Grid-Edge DERMS
Customer Engagement
Demand Forecasting
BYOD
Customer Engagement
Demand Response
EV Charging
Incentive Processing
Program Design
Program Management Automation
Flexible Dispatch
Virtual Power Plants
API Integrations
In January, the Trump Administration declared a national energy emergency, citing a dearth of resources, namely fossil fuels, needed to meet rising demand. Electric demand is spiking, driven by energy-hungry AI and data center developments, supply chain and tariff challenges, and the increased occurrence of extreme and volatile weather patterns caused by climate change. While the DOE currently is calling for more access to fossil fuels, renewable energy demand flexibility programs, which leverage distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS), electric vehicles (EVs) and EVSE chargers), and smart home devices like thermostats and water heaters provide an opportunity for utilities to enhance grid resiliency and defray mounting operational and market costs.
Today is the first-ever Sun Day, a holiday aimed at celebrating the promise of clean energy. To celebrate, we’re looking at the value of these renewable energy programs, both as a means of decarbonizing and supporting climate change mitigation, and as an economic opportunity to minimize rising costs.
What is Sun Day?
Not to be confused with the day that many attend church, Sun Day is a day of action designed to support renewable energy programs and policies. On September 21, participants will host or attend Sun Day events, all dedicated to harnessing renewable energy like solar to meet rising electric demand.
Fossil Fuels Are Expensive
In April 2025, the Department of Energy announced efforts to strengthen fossil fuels, specifically U.S. coal, to support the purported national energy emergency. The following month, the DOE announced plans to defer the retirement of several fossil fuel plants to reduce energy insecurity. Unfortunately, those deferrals have gone on to cost utilities and ratepayers an estimated $3.1 billion in annual costs, and analysts believe that cost could go as high as $6 billion if it continues.
By contrast, demand flexibility programs like virtual power plants have proven not only effective in meeting demand and enhancing grid resiliency, but operate a fraction of the overall cost to build a new power plant. Through the use of a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS), utilities can aggregate otherwise disparate DER assets for use in customer renewable energy programs like virtual power plants, demand response programs, or EV managed charging. Utilities can leverage behind-the-meter DER assets already found in places like residential, commercial, and industrial properties using a Grid-Edge DERMS, lowering operational costs, while enhancing grid resiliency.
Climate Change is Weather Change
While it might be de rigueur to discuss climate change, the existential reality of the matter remains the same: without strident efforts to mitigate climate change, the environment will grow increasingly hazardous. For utilities, that means a continued increase in annual temperature extremes, which has slowly risen higher each successive year over the last decade, resulting in demand increases and energy insecurity.
Likewise, climate change directly correlates with shifting weather patterns, including unseasonable winter storms or other off-season or extreme weather events like hurricanes in landlocked areas. Likewise, climate change also increases the likelihood of wildfires, which threaten not only the safety of customers and the infrastructure but could also present a legal challenge to utilities. No matter how you cut it, climate change strains the grid and increases demand.
Benefits of Renewable Energy Demand Flexibility Programs
The 2024 Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering from FERC found that participation in U.S. retail incentive-based demand response programs dropped slightly by 1.6% for a total of 10.3 million enrolled customers as of 2022. Still, demand response programs alone that year yielded one terawatt-hour of energy conserved, even with a decrease in enrollment and participation.
Demand flexibility renewable energy programs include conservation efforts like the aforementioned demand response, EV charging, or BYOD programs, as well as redistribution strategies like some virtual power plants. To meet growing demand, the DOE released a report calling for aggregate virtual power plant capacity to increase from 30-60 GWh to 80-160 GWh of combined annual capacity. This growth in virtual power plants—which includes demand response programs—is imperative in meeting rising demand, while defraying high costs.
Conservation: The Efficacy of Demand Response & Virtual Power Plants
Through the use of distributed energy resources (DERs), utilities can aggregate otherwise disparate devices for use in conservation programs as identified above. These programs shift load to off-peak hours of usage through granular device control, which changes temperature set points on thermostats or water heaters, or shifts charging behaviors. In each case, these renewable energy strategies work by minimizing usage, particularly during peak periods of demand that occur most often during temperature extremes or weather events.
Redistribution: How Communities Can Work Together For Grid Resiliency (& Lower Bills!)
Through the use of renewable energy strategies like virtual power plants, V2G charging, or community solar programs, utilities can access communally-generated power from things like solar, solar inverters, or battery energy storage systems. By using a Grid-Edge DERMS, utilities can access stored battery or excess solar energy to repower the grid. These demand flexibility programs function by incentivizing customer participation, which in turn increases potential energy assets. Ultimately, these strategies are useful in minimizing steep peak energy market costs, mitigating potential (and extremely costly) infrastructure upgrades, and increasing grid resiliency.
Call to Action: Community-Driven Conservation Efforts
In 2024, the Department of Energy released The Future of Resource Adequacy Report, which looked at the overall challenges faced by energy providers. That report found that the deployment of renewable energy technologies and strategies like the mass-deployment of geothermal heat pumps, energy-efficient HVAC units, or weatherization upgrades could result in peak load reductions of 24-33% by 2030.
Like demand flexibility programs, these renewable energy strategies are driven by customer participation. As such, customer engagement software designed to educate and engage customers is crucial to building not only community rapport, but in achieving buy-in to participate.
Celebrating the Benefits of Renewable Energy: Conclusion
Making the world a little greener is something Virtual Peaker is committed to every day. That message is shared on Sun Day, with communities coming together to celebrate renewable energy and the possibility of a brighter tomorrow. How are you celebrating your first Sun Day? Sound off in the comments on social media!
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