EnergyHub is the first distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) provider to have more than one million distributed energy resources (DERs)—including smart thermostats, electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging equipment, energy storage systems, water heaters, and more—under management.  The company is excited to announce this major milestone for our utility clients, their customers, our device partners, and the energy industry. DER-based virtual power plants (VPPs) are critical components of the resource stack, keeping the grid reliable and accelerating decarbonization.

“These devices collectively deliver 1.35 GW of flexibility across North America’s electrical grid, which is more than the generation capacity of a medium-sized nuclear plant,” said EnergyHub CEO Seth Frader-Thompson. “One million devices represents a key achievement in our mission to empower utilities and their customers to create a carbon-free, distributed energy future.”

Maintaining reliable energy service has grown more challenging as the country navigates extreme weather and heavier demand for electricity, but utilities are adapting by using the rapidly-growing number of customer-owned DERs on the grid as flexible resources. In 2022, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) participating in EnergyHub flexibility programs increased more than 200 percent and the number of batteries increased more than 80 percent year-over-year. The exponential growth of connected DERs promises much-needed load flexibility as more renewables come online—but only if utilities can harness that flexibility when and where they need it with reliable VPPs.

Services key to delivering flexibility at scale

EnergyHub partners with some of the largest utilities in North America, including Arizona Public Service (APS), DTE Energy, National Grid, Salt River Project (SRP), and others, deploying unique, customer-centric support services to scale client programs.

“Over the past five years, we’ve partnered with EnergyHub to build our Cool Rewards program into a key part of APS’s flexibility strategy,” said Kerri Carnes, Director of Customer to Grid Solutions at APS. “We can now call on more than 75,000 enrolled thermostats delivering 110 MW of reliable flexibility, helping us shift energy demand and incorporate more renewable power onto our smart grid.”

APS partners with EnergyHub’s DERMS and integrated support services including program management, marketing support, data analysis, partner management, and customer support. EnergyHub also manages the industry’s largest partner ecosystem. “We’re excited to continue to innovate with EnergyHub to find customer-focused energy solutions that bolster reliability and affordability on the path to a cleaner energy future,” said Carnes.

Innovation: A critical ingredient to success

Innovation is essential to meet our utility clients’ needs while maintaining customer satisfaction. In one recent example, EnergyHub worked with SRP to reach limited to moderate-income customers with a kit program activated in partnership with Techniart/Resource Innovations. SRP was one of the first utilities to expand its Bring-Your-Own-Thermostat (BYOT) program to multi-family dwellings and small-to-medium businesses and can now call on more than 78,000 thermostats to deliver flexibility, leading the utility to win the 2023 AESP Energy Award For Innovation in Demand Flexibility.

“The team at EnergyHub helps SRP at every step of our program journey. EnergyHub’s services help SRP meet our program goals of scale and deliver reliable grid-edge flexibility to our internal stakeholders,” said Eamonn Urey, SRP Program Manager.

Getting to the next million

Alongside the company’s utility clients, their customers, and device partners, EnergyHub celebrates the first million connected DERs under management. At the same time, the company recognizes the size of the challenge ahead. 

For the country to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2035, between one and two terawatts (TW) of power generation must be decarbonized. That transformation will only be possible when massive flexibility—on the order of 500 GW—is available to match demand to the variable nature of renewables.

EnergyHub is doubling down on this goal by integrating more classes of DERs into the company’s DERMS and continuing to deliver customer-centric programs that rapidly scale to the next million devices and beyond for utility clients. The EnergyHub team looks forward to partnering with new and existing vendors, clients, and customers to continue to accelerate the decarbonization of the power system.