SunSpec Alliance and Clean Coalition brought together leaders from across the DER industry to explore how DSO policy, open energy markets, virtual power plants, DERMS, and interoperability can work together to build a more flexible and efficient distribution grid.
Ben Schwartz, Clean Coalition, opened with the Grid Optimization by Leveraging DER (GOLD) framework and a local-first vision for distribution system operators. He outlined how DERs can help balance energy, voltage, and frequency, accelerate new grid connections, improve resilience, and reduce the need for traditional infrastructure investments. He also emphasized the importance of open markets, transparent valuation, high-quality grid data, and common communication standards such as IEEE 2030.5.
Chris Cook, Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), brought that vision into practice with an overview of 3CE’s new virtual power plant and behind-the-meter battery pilot. He explained how 3CE is using DERMS to aggregate and dispatch customer resources, beginning with batteries and expanding over time, while creating incentives that benefit participating customers and provide value to the broader grid.
Jared Satrom, Voltus, presented a proposed distribution adequacy framework that would create clearer market signals for DERs providing value at specific locations on the distribution system. His approach builds on California’s existing resource adequacy model and explores how CAISO, distribution operators, aggregators, and DERs could coordinate capacity, dispatch, settlement, and telemetry.
Finally, Jay Johnson, DER Security Corp., focused on the technology and interoperability needed to make these concepts work in the field. Through projects involving bidirectional electric school buses and Project Symphony, he demonstrated how standards such as IEEE 2030.5 can connect grid needs with DERs and enable services including capacity management, voltage support, active power control, and frequency response. He also highlighted new open-source tools designed to make it easier to integrate, test, and commission SunSpec-compliant devices.
Taken together, the presentations showed how policy, markets, DERMS, interoperability standards, and grid-edge technology must work as a connected system to unlock the full value of distributed energy resources.
