DER Task Force July Newsletter
July 2021 Edition
Announcements + Updates
We’re moving to Substack! If you already subscribe to the DER Task Force newsletter no need to worry - we migrated your subscription over for you. If you’re new, welcome, we hope you’ll come back.
On July 7th, we hosted a great meetup with Chris Rauscher of Sunrun. A recording of the event is here, and you can find recordings of other past meetups on our YouTube channel. Our next meetup is August 11 at 6:30pm ET with Michael Murray of Mission: Data. Register here to join!
Check out the first few episodes of Season 2 of our podcast , which you can find on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts. We’ve added the OhmConnect and Virtual Power Plants Meetup from early June to the feed here so check it out! And if you have any #deepenergythoughts, feel free to share them in the #podcastchatter channel in Slack. (Not a part of the Slack yet? Join here.)
Lastly, keep an eye out for the launch of the new and improved DER Task Force website coming soon. We’ve heard great feedback from you all about what you want and we are excited to share these changes with you!
From the community
From the community: Local Meetups
Bay Area DER TF members got together in June for a meetup while modeling some cool DER TF swag. Thanks to Carl Lenox for organizing this one - more meetups coming soon!
NYC DER TF members got together at the Urban Energy office (thanks Russell Wilcox for hosting!) for an energy happy hour. So great to see in-person events coming back this summer!
If you want to host a meetup in your city, message in your city or region’s channel to get the ball rolling. No channel for where you live yet? Feel free to start one and invite people to join!
From the community: Content
Tim McDuffie shares his thoughts on the shortcomings of the Community Microgrid Enablement Tariff (CMET) in California and how the program dis-incentivizes participation by increasing financial risks for DER owners and operators.
Swarnav Pujari interviews Patrick Worrall of LevelTen Energy on his podcast - check it out here!
Thanks to Jake Duncan for sharing this hilarious slice of the Internet !
From the community: Thread of the Month
In the #resources channel, DER TF members discussed the persisting barriers to C&I adoption of solar and storage, despite the tailwinds from FERC 2222 and continued declines in solar and storage costs.
Key takeaways from the thread:
The general techno-economics of these projects make a lot of sense on a standalone basis, but the time and resource costs of originating, financing, contracting, and executing projects are high. In other words, the market is fractured, processes are un-standardized, and that all creates friction to adoption.
Many would-be C&I customers are tenant-occupied properties, which complicates the overall credit-worthiness calculation of a given customer and adds speedbumps to any potential deal.
Check out the #resources channel for more great conversations with fellow DERTFers!
What we’re reading
From David Roberts in Canary Media, Why rooftop solar and home batteries make a clean grid vastly more affordable. For those looking to go deeper, here is the research and model from Christopher Clack and team, which Roberts references in his piece.
The state of California making moves to integrate more DERs into the grid and opening the door to the possibility of real-time pricing.
Want to read more? Join the #news channel in the Slack. Did we miss a piece? Let us know about it here.
Jobs
PowerFlex (EDF Renewables) is hiring across all departments as they expand and build EV charging across the US - learn more about opportunities here and reach out to Kristen Frick for questions.
Solar Energy Industries Association is hiring a Director of Storage Markets & Policy to advise Congressional, State and Regulatory affairs departments on policy design. Apply here and reach out to Scott Elias to learn more.
SunPower is hiring a Senior Analyst focused on Pricing and Policy to join the Financial Products team. Reach out to Austin Perea to learn more and apply here.
Kevala Analytics is hiring a DER Modeling & Optimization Engineer to join the growing Grid Innovation team. Apply here and reach out to Kyle Baranko to learn more.
Don’t worry, there are way more jobs than listed above - find our full job board here.
Have a job and want to share? Fill out this form to get it in our database.
DER of the Month
The inimitable Carl Lenox shared this incredible piece of home engineering in Slack during a heat wave on the West Coast. Don’t know about you, but I know who I am asking for cooling assistance during this wildfire season…
Thanks for reading!
— DER Task Force Leadership Team
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