Skip to content

Energy · Glossary

Distributed Energy Resources (DER)

Distributed energy resources (DER) are smaller-scale power assets located near the point of use, such as rooftop solar, batteries, EV chargers, and controllable loads. Aggregated and orchestrated, they can act like a virtual power plant.

DER management is reshaping utility operations because power now flows two ways and flexibility has market value. Software that forecasts, dispatches, and settles DER portfolios is one of the fastest-growing layers of the grid stack.

In practice

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) are increasingly managed by utility companies, energy service providers, and technology platforms that aggregate and optimize their output. Staff make decisions on integrating these resources into grid operations, balancing supply and demand, and enhancing reliability. Commercially, DER reduces the need for large-scale infrastructure investments, lowers energy costs for consumers, and supports regulatory compliance for carbon emissions. Their strategic deployment improves resilience and creates new revenue streams through services like demand response and ancillary services.

Where Distributed Energy Resources (DER) shows up on MarketScale

What is MarketScale

MarketScale is a content platform that helps Energy teams turn their expertise into articles, video, and audience. Want this kind of coverage for your work?

Free Trial

Try the MarketScale platform free. No demo required.

Start a free trial of MarketScale for qualifying companies. Record your experts, organize your footage, and draft content with AI. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.