DER Task Force March Newsletter

March 2022 Edition

Apr 04, 2022

Boy do we have some exciting news to share! Everyone mark your calendars for November 10th because we are **drumroll please** hosting our inaugural DERTFest at Newlab in Brooklyn, NY! This event is meant to be both a conference and a social event and aims to emulate the curious, down-to-earth, fun vibe we’ve got going with the community. We’ll have guest speakers, (not boring) networking, a company expo, and opportunities for sponsorship! And, of course, can’t forget the afterparties and other social activities that come along with it. We’ll follow up with a “Save the date” link for people to add their names to the list. Get excited!
Last month we shared a great thread started by some DERTFers on networking and finding a job in this space, which can be challenging if you are coming from the outside. We got some great responses, and we’re working on compiling and sharing out to the community soon. If you want to fill out the survey to pass along your wisdom to other Task Force members (it’s super quick!) check it out here!

From the community

Meetups

We are starting to plan Meetups for the next couple months and wanted to hear from you! Anybody in your network you think would be a great guest? Know of someone we should get sharing their thoughts with the Task Force? Let us know by reaching out to myself, Duncan, or Colleen in Slack.

Threads of the Month

Cooper started a massive thread in #technology asking a very good question on the competitive dynamics between utilities an DER aggregators. There were too many incredible responses from the Task Force to summarize here, so I highly suggest you check it out for yourself.

We may want to crown Cooper Thread King, since he sparked another good discussion on why V2G and V2H are so much more complex than other DER <> demand sink connection (like solar panel to grid or battery to home).

Key Takeaways below:

Utilities are not incentivized to move quickly on projects that may at some future point in time impact their revenues, so that means long testing periods of programs like V2G or V2H
In general, bi-directional chargers for V2G or V2H are expensive. One solution to that could be a device agnostic, bi-directional connector that could be used for, say, Solar PVs and your EV. If we used that bi-directional charger for both the solar and EV, the solar component would no longer qualify for NEM in many states, which consumers are generally not excited about.
California is blazing the trail when it comes to V2G progress, with V2G-DC already allowed to interconnect.

Check out the #technology channel for more!

What we’re reading

Mike Munsell is at it again, breaking down one of the more recent viral DER / energy memes to take Twitter by storm. His meandering interview with Mike Fell on why he decided to create the hilarious Heat Pumps that look like George Clooney thread is such a great read. Check it out here!
Coming in April, we will be rolling out feature articles written by members of the DER Task Force. Our first feature will be a piece written by Duncan Campbell which we are so excited to share. Following that, we’ll plan to release a few articles a month in addition to this newsletter. If you’re interested in being featured, drop us a line in Slack!

Want to read more? Join the #news channel in the Slack. Did we miss a piece? Let us know about it here.

Jobs

Consolidated Edison (ConEd) is hiring for a Senior Specialist focused on Energy Efficiency, Pilots & Emerging Technologies. You can apply here and please reach out to Peter Goldberg at goldbergp@coned.com with any questions.
The team at Kevala is hiring for a Rates and DER Programs Analyst as well as a Wholesale Markets Analyst. Reach out to Frances Bell if you’re interested in learning more.
Fluence is hiring for a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer. You can learn more about the role and apply here, and can reach out to Victoria Yang at victoria.yang@fluenceenergy.com with any questions.
Omnidian is hiring for an R&D Software Developer and a host of other roles. You can learn more about about and apply to the software role here, and don’t hesitate to reach out to AJ Grossman for more details.

Don’t worry, there are way more jobs than listed above - find our full job board here and be sure to join the #jobs channel in Slack.

Have a job and want to share? Fill out this form to get it in our database.

DER of the Month

During an offsite attended by a few folks on the DER TF leadership team, we encountered the most incredible DER-adjacent menus at a restaurant in Houston, TX. I think it’s fair to say Texas has energy capital of the US locked down for some time now…