Distributed energy resources are poised for “explosive growth” across the United States over the next five years, said Ben Kellison, grid edge director at GTM Research, speaking at GTM’s Grid Edge Innovation Summit in late June.
As of 2017, GTM Research says, five classes of behind-the-meter DERs — distributed solar, small-scale CHP, residential smart thermostats, electric vehicles and energy storage — contributed 46.4 gigawatts of impact on the U.S. summer peak, according to Kellison. By 2023, that figure is expected to more than double to total 104 gigawatts of flexible capacity, Kellison said. That’s led by growth in distributed solar, along with a big increase in the capacity available from smart thermostats, and a rising share of EV charging. To put that into perspective, “just these five classes could equal together almost as much power as [Texas grid operator] ERCOT has registered for its bulk generating system,” he said.
Utilities aren’t as threatened by the growth of DERs as they’ve been in the past, at least according to a GTM survey of utility executives conducted this year. Only 3 percent viewed them purely as a threat, while 44 percent labeled them an opportunity — although, to be fair, 55 percent of respondents chose “both a threat and an opportunity” as their answer.
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