The POWER Interview: Grid Integration of DERs

Darrell Proctor

Thu, January 22, 2026 astatine 11:10 AM CST 4 min read

Integrating distributed vigor resources (DERs) specified arsenic solar, wind, batteries, and electrical vehicles into the powerfulness grid is an important portion of the vigor transition. Utilities and transmission strategy operators cognize they request much flexibility erstwhile it comes to powerfulness procreation and delivery, which involves modernizing infrastructure, utilizing precocious controls, and processing caller marketplace rules to negociate two-way powerfulness flow. The integration of DERs tin enactment a much resilient proviso of electricity. Coordination of smaller, local, decentralized vigor sources with existing inferior systems, done aggregators and integer platforms, is happening worldwide. Challenges to integrating DERs see managing intermittency, ensuring grid stability, and of people updating regulations for their use. The benefits are many, from having much power of vigor costs to utilizing cleaner forms of powerfulness generation. Jerry Polacek is president of IPP Solutions astatine Aggreko, a planetary person successful providing modular vigor solutions, including mobile powerfulness generation, somesthesia power (HVAC), and vigor services for industries. Polacek, on with Michael Kushner, wide manager for C&I (commercial and industrial) IPP Solutions for Aggreko, provided POWER with penetration into the company's enactment successful enactment of DERs, peculiarly for the commercialized and concern sector. POWER: What policies and regulations impact DERs? Polacek: In the U.S., DERs are impacted by federal, state, and section policies and regulations. Prominent national policies alteration DERs to person taxation credits, acceptable entree to wholesale markets and pricing, and impact permitting. At the authorities level, renewable portfolio standards (RPS), nett metering programs, and assemblage star policies supply important incentives to beforehand the maturation of DERs. Locally, developers indispensable recognize permitting requirements and code stakeholder concerns to summation enactment for DERs. As a developer, we actively navigate these frameworks to accelerate deployment for C&I customers and assemblage star projects, ensuring compliance portion maximizing incentives.