From Pilot to Program: Scaling Demand Response in 2027

Rates are climbing, outage hours are rising, and load growth from data centers and localized EV adoption is arriving faster than new generation can. Demand flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have. Yet many utilities are still stuck running pilots that prove the technology works and then never make it into operations.

New findings from the 2026 State of Demand Flexibility Report show the biggest barriers are now human: program evaluation, DER integration, customer engagement, and getting operations teams bought in.

This webinar will break down why promising pilots stall and what the utilities that scale do differently. You’ll hear how IOUs and co-ops are closing the gap between sandbox and full deployment. You’ll also learn a practical framework for earning budget and operational trust one milestone at a time, and get a candid look at where demand flexibility is heading in 2027.