BYOD
Customer Engagement
Demand Response
EV Charging
Incentive Processing
Program Design
Program Management Automation
Flexible Dispatch
Virtual Power Plants
Platform
Grid-Edge DERMS
Customer Engagement
Demand Forecasting
Every year, our partners at the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) conducts its annual State of the Consumer survey, which examines the relationship between consumers and their electric utility providers. As with the last several years, demand is on the rise, currently driven by the development of energy-hungry AI and data centers, supply chain issues, and increasing extreme weather events, to name a few. To meet demand, utilities have turned to demand flexibility initiatives like virtual power plants, demand response, or EV charging to shift load to where and when it’s needed. These programs require distributed energy resources (DERs) to function and customer participation to participate in behind-the-meter demand flexibility programs, so determining how best to meet your customers where they are is critical in fostering the enrollment and participation necessary to meet demand.
Distributed Energy Resources, DERMS, & Demand Flexibility (Oh My!)
Before we get started, here is a brief primer. A distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) manages distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar, battery energy storage systems, electric vehicles (EVs) and EVSE chargers, and smart home devices like thermostats and water heaters for use in one of many demand flexibility programs. These programs redirect power during peak periods of consumption to manage load flexibility by either dispatching power from solar or battery energy storage systems or through concerted load aggregation, which shifts usage to off-peak periods of demand.
Today, grid operators already rely on distributed energy resources to meet demand through the use of a Grid DERMS. Grid DERMS manages utility-held assets like solar or battery installations as a virtual power plant to meet peak demand. By contrast, a Grid-Edge DERMS aggregates behind-the-meter distributed energy resources found in places like residential housing, commercial properties, or industrial facilities. While the material costs of solar and battery may be uncertain, behind-the-meter DERs, particularly thermostats and water heaters, represent an existing energy asset that utilities can use.
DER Intermittency
Unlike utility-held distributed energy resources, behind-the-meter DERs have long represented an unknown quantity for grid operators; where utility-held DER installations are quantifiable assets, the variables involved in managing behind-the-meter DERs have led to an understandable uncertainty, as grid operators need to know with surety that the grid remains in the appropriate equilibrium.
Fortunately, Topline Demand Control, a novel combination of AI, forecasting software, model predictive control, and the Shift Grid-Edge DERMS, solves that exact problem. By optimizing DERs in real-time at the device level, Topline Demand Control makes distributed energy resources as reliable as a gas turbine. For utilities, that means establishing a requested load shift, and Topline Demand Control will work to ensure that outcome, reliably every single time.
What Customers Want
According to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, more than 39% of customers were worse off financially in 2024 than in previous years. Customers are reasonably overwhelmed by slowly rising electric bills, and reported a strong interest in transparent communications between customers and their utility providers. These studies parallel the 2025 State of the Consumer Report, which similarly demonstrates that customers want more communication from utilities, as well as more opportunities to defray high costs: behind-the-meter distributed energy resources offer exactly that opportunity affordably by leveraging devices that are already widely adopted around the U.S.
Now, let’s dive into the specifics that the SECC found.
Small-Mid-Sized Businesses Want Demand Response
The SECC surveyed a wide variety of subjects, including medium and small-sized businesses (SMBs), and found that more than 70% of SMBs are actively interested in demand response programs. This supports the Department of Energy report stating that between 80-160 GW of aggregate virtual power plant capacity is needed by 2030 to meet demand. That same report identifies between 30-60 GW of existing VPP capacity in the U.S., attributing the majority of that to demand response.
What’s worth noting here is that not only do customers want communication and anything that can help defray rising bills, but SMBs do as well. Utilities can capture that interest through messaging and marketing to foster interest in demand response programs. This may include partnering with a contractor network—the literal installers of behind-the-meter distributed energy resources—or through targeted marketing campaigns. Developing and scaling demand response programs satisfies customer interests, affording them financial incentives as well as enhanced grid resiliency, while in turn defraying high peak energy costs.
Electrifying the Fleet
The SECC survey also found that 56% of SMBs were interested in converting their vehicular fleets to EVs. This represents another opportunity for utilities to leverage distributed energy resources as part of an EV charging program, which shifts or halts EV charging times to off-peak periods of demand, thereby lowering costs. Although the EV market has slowed, EV sales are still robust in comparison to previous years, signaling more potential DER assets for use in demand flexibility programs.
The Importance of Energy Messaging
Energy messaging is crucial in reaching your target audience, which in this case is interested and engaged owners of behind-the-meter DERs for use in customer demand flexibility programs. The SECC report notes that “Electricity providers are widely regarded as trusted authorities, serving as consumers’ preferred sources for reliable, actionable information about energy use, cost-saving opportunities, and sustainable practices. This strong foundation of trust presents a valuable opportunity to deepen customer relationships and drive greater participation in energy programs.”
The report goes on to explain that marketing demand response programs is complex, challenged by material costs, comforts, and autonomy: customers want to know that they remain in charge. Still, both the J.D. Power and SECC reports demonstrate that transparency is key to securing the buy-in and trust necessary to develop and later scale your demand flexibility programs.
– Amber Mullaney, VP of Marketing, Virtual Peaker
Start by finding the tone you wish to take. Considerations on language may include whether or not you discuss regulatory or environmental issues, potential device types, customer incentives, and expected outcomes, all of which should be presented with the simplest, most direct language possible. Use soft, persuasive language that helps customers understand the nature of the program, how they benefit, how their participation benefits the community, and the metrics that will be used to measure program success. Remember: customers want transparency, autonomy, and affordability, and you can give them all of that.
Developing Your Marketing Plan
According to the American Marketing Association, a marketing plan is a focused document that “meticulously outlines marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics.” As such, marketing requires an upfront strategy that balances audience interest and expected outcomes. Ask what you want the program to accomplish, and then work backwards to answer this. For example, if you want to develop a demand response program, you will need to determine:
- The outcomes that you want from your program – How much energy do you hope to conserve through demand response?
- What kind of devices will you use? – You can partially base this answer on your expected outcome. If you want a bigger outcome, you may consider starting with whichever device is most common in your territory.
- How complex or expensive the integrations and development process may be – Suppose the most common device in your area is also difficult or costly to integrate into your program; you might pick a different device instead to avoid those challenges.
- What your incentives might be – Knowing what customers might receive in response to their participation is an important step in prepping a marketing plan for distributed energy resource programs.
- How will you reach your customers? Are you reaching out through text, email, or social media? Have you worked with your call center reps to train them to educate your customers? Have you priced radio or television ads? Have you considered billing inserts or billboards? Make sure that you answer these questions when determining a vendor, so that you can reach out.
On top of that, make sure you have a growth strategy in mind. What does scalability for your program look like? How can you ensure success? Consider an all-in-one vendor for managing ALL of your distributed energy resources, which simplifies scalability while providing future opportunities for parallel demand flexibility programs.
The SECC 2025 State of the Consumer Report & Distributed Energy Resources Conclusion
The SECC 2025 State of the Consumer Report provided some incredibly valuable insights. Customers want demand response programs, and they are interested in leveraging AI like Topline Demand Control. Reaching customers is challenging work, but don’t get disheartened: as the report demonstrates, motivating consumer behaviors is complicated and evolving. Fortunately, with the right customer engagement tools and platform, managing distributed energy resources to meet rising demand has never been simpler or efficient.
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