Home news Blog | Building Confidence and Scaling a Grid DERMS Solution Through Quick Wins

Blog | Building Confidence and Scaling a Grid DERMS Solution Through Quick Wins

How targeted DERMS deployments build the confidence, and the foundation, for larger grid programs.

Utilities are being asked to do more with the grid than ever before. New sources of power generation, flexible demand, electrification, and large energy-intensive customers such as data centers are reshaping how power flows across the distribution system. At the same time, utilities are under pressure to improve reliability, control costs, and connect new resources faster.

The need for distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) is becoming clearer. The harder question for most utilities is not whether they will need these capabilities, but how to get started without launching another large, multi-year technology program. In conversations with utilities, I hear a version of the same concern: we understand where the grid is going, but we do not want to boil the ocean on day one.

That is where a scalable approach matters. A successful DERMS strategy does not have to begin with an enterprise-wide deployment. In many cases, the best path is to solve one real operational problem, prove the value, build confidence, and then expand.

Start with a Problem, Not a Platform

In most cases, the first DERMS project works when it is aimed at a single, well-defined grid challenge, such as:

A feeder where new solar cannot connect without an expensive upgrade
A substation approaching a thermal limit during certain hours
A battery that could be dispatched as a non-wires alternative
EV charging that needs to be managed rather than simply accommodated
A large data center developer that could be offered flexible rather than fully firm capacity

These are specific problems with measurable outcomes, which makes them ideal starting points. Additionally, flexible use cases can deliver measurable financial benefits by deferring or avoiding infrastructure investments, helping utilities build a stronger business case, and justifying the investment internally. Instead of asking, “How do we deploy DERMS across our entire system?” the first question becomes, “Can we use DERMS to safely solve this constraint?”

A smaller scope makes the project easier to define, integrate, test, and measure. More importantly, it gives the utility an opportunity to see the technology operating on its own system, with its own data, communications, field equipment, operating procedures, and people.

What a Quick Win Should Prove

A targeted deployment should do more than prove that software can be installed. It should demonstrate meaningful operational value. Depending on the use case, success could mean:

Connecting additional DER capacity without needing to upgrade a feeder or substation
Keeping a transformer or circuit within safe operating limits using real-time control
Dispatching a battery when it provides the most value to the grid
Reducing curtailment while maintaining reliability
Allowing a new large load to interconnect with a combination of firm and flexible capacity
Integrating DER control into existing utility systems and operator workflows

Confidence in the solution is just as important as the technical result, and it must be earned across the organization. For example:

System operators need to trust that the solution will respond when expected
Engineering teams need to understand the control logic
IT and cybersecurity teams need to be comfortable with how the system communicates
Planning teams need to see that the operational solution aligns with their studies
Leadership needs to see the business case has clear value added

When those groups gain confidence, the organizational buy-in extends to finding new applications for the solution.

Design the First Deployment with the Second in Mind

A pilot can become a dead end if it is built as a one-off project with no thought given to what comes next. A scalable deployment should solve today’s problem while establishing a foundation that can be reused. That means:

Using common interfaces and protocols
Integrating with existing utility systems where appropriate
Creating repeatable workflows for onboarding DERs
Developing operating procedures that can be applied to future projects

MEPPI’s Strata Grid platform is designed to support targeted deployments without requiring a utility to wait for a perfect operational network model before realizing value. Its modular approach allows a utility to address a specific network constraint and expand the solution as needs grow. Strata Grid is also built to integrate with the systems a utility already relies on, rather than replacing them, including SCADA, ADMS, EMS, historians, planning tools, and third-party DER platforms.

Scaling in Three Directions

Once the first use case is proven, scaling generally happens in three directions:

Geography: from one constrained feeder to additional feeders, substations, or operating regions
Asset type: a flexible interconnection program that begins with solar can extend to battery energy storage, EV charging, controllable load, or other DERs
Use case: a platform first deployed for flexible generator interconnection can go on to support non-wires alternatives, dynamic operating envelopes, battery dispatch, load flexibility, or virtual power plant coordination

Scalability is not only about handling more devices. It is about adding locations, integrations, asset types, and operational use cases without starting over each time. The objective is to turn the lessons, integrations, and operating experience from the first deployment into a repeatable framework.

The Role of the Grid Edge

As programs scale, utilities also need to consider where control should happen. Some decisions belong at the centralized DERMS level, where the utility has visibility across the broader network. Other actions may need to occur locally at the grid edge, particularly when fast response or fail-safe control is required.

MEPPI combines centralized DERMS capabilities with the DER Gateway, an edge controller that can communicate directly with local equipment and enforce site-level control. This layered architecture gives utilities a path to coordinate DERs at scale while maintaining local protection and operational safeguards where needed.

Scalability is Ultimately About Reducing Risk

Utilities are understandably cautious when introducing new technology into grid operations. Reliability comes first, and no operator wants to take unnecessary risk simply for the sake of innovation. That is why the “quick win, then scale” approach works: solve a real problem, measure the result, learn from the deployment, build internal confidence, and then repeat the process.

The goal is to make the path to a larger deployment manageable.

As DER penetration and load growth continue to increase, utilities will need more visibility, flexibility, and control across the distribution system. The organizations that can move successfully from targeted projects to repeatable programs will be better positioned to accommodate that growth without treating every new grid constraint as a new infrastructure project.

At MEPPI, we see scalability as the ability to start where the value is clearest and grow from there. A utility does not need to solve every future DER challenge on day one. It needs a solution, and an approach, that can solve the first challenge today without limiting what it can do tomorrow.