Siemens report examines how utilities are managing growth in behind the meter DERs
In a new report, Siemens examines how electric utilities in the United States and Canada are managing the accelerating adoption of behind the meter distributed energy resources (DERs).
The report, called “Seeing behind the meter: How electric utilities are adapting to the surge in distributed energy resources,” reveals the challenges and benefits therein. For the study, Siemens partnered with Oxford Economics to survey 100 decision makers from electric utilities in the United States and Canada.
“The complexities associated with behind the meter DERs are a significant challenge to electricity distribution utilities in North America. Technology can help by providing actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges of these resources to improve grid resilience. The software and digitalization tools we implement today, will not only increase capacity, but aid in reliability – laying the foundation for an autonomous and advanced clean grid of the future,” Marcus McCarthy, SVP of Siemens Grid Software, U.S. and Mexico, said.
Among the key findings, the study reveals that there is a steady transformation of passive energy consumers into producers, consequently altering the energy market. This rise in active energy producers is an opportunity to tap into alternative sources of power and increase the resilience of the grid to meet sustainability goals. However, the study found that behind the meter visibility is a challenge in designing cost-effective programs and monitoring.
The study noted that at least half of utilities surveyed have experienced an increase in the adoption of solar panels (64 percent) and electric vehicles (50 percent) over the past three years. Further, batteries are expected to gain popularity with over half (59 percent) of respondents expecting increased penetration in the next three years.
It also revealed that operational challenges caused by behind the meter DERs are difficult to address due to lack of visibility. Further, there is a lack of clarity in understanding DER’s location, size, and activity. About 70 percent of respondents said they rely on interconnection requests and/or integrations with platforms like distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) to gather information about the location of behind the meter DERs.
Utilities estimate that they only have visibility into, on average, 36 percent of DERS on the grid through platforms like DERMS. As a result, behind the meter DERs create an operational issue for utilities as roughly 75 percent of those surveyed said that customer adoption creates challenges. The challenges include voltage visibility and control issues, back-feeding, protection and control coordination issues, distribution transformer and conductor overloads, masked or hidden loads.
The study also discussed optimizing the grid through demand-side and DER management programs. More than two out of three utilities surveyed are implementing demand side management programs and plan to expand this in the next five years. However, only 37 percent have currently implemented DER management programs, due in part to the additional hurdle of customer opt-in. On average, only 35 percent of customers participate in DER management programs versus 54 percent for incentive-based demand-side programs, the survey found.
Finally, the report surmised that the future of the grid relies on visibility. More than half of respondents expect visibility into the behavior and location of all behind the meter DERs to benefit their operations and increase productivity.
The report concludes with three broad recommendations. First, invest in the technologies that boost visibility behind the meter – a necessity for utilities to successfully navigate the energy transition and future-proof the grid. Second, prioritize strategies like demand-side and DER management programs for increased flexibility behind the meter. And finally, strengthen customer trust to boost participation in management programs.
