Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings Working Group

Thirty states and territories through their State Energy Offices and/or Public Utility Commissions are members of the Working Group.

NASEO Contacts: Rodney Sobin rsobin@naseo.org, Jasmine Xie jxie@naseo.org, or GEB@naseo.org

NARUC Contact: Jeff Loiter jloiter@naruc.org 

• This webinar will feature a representative of the Public Utility Commission of Texas discussing state actions on large load flexibility, focused on Texas Senate Bill 6, and Verrus presenting on its demonstration of data centers designed to be flexible grid assets. Please register here.

Webinars are open to all. Working Group forums are limited to states and territories. Please contact geb@naseo.org with questions.

• This webinar, moderated by Blaise Caudill (Deputy Director, Office of Resiliency, Arizona Executive Office of the Governor), featured Tyler Norris (Duke University, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability) presenting on Integrating Large Flexible Loads in US Power Systems  based on a recent report and Aroon Vijaykar (Senior Vice President, Strategy and Commercial, Emerald AI) presented on Emerald AI’s demonstration of data center compute orchestration, delivering firm dispatchable load flexibility in Phoenix, Arizona. (Supplemental post from Tyler Norris, The Puzzle of Low Data Center Utilization Rates, and paper from Emerald AI, et al.) Webinar recording is here.

• Paul De Martini (Newport Consulting Group) discussed the evolving role of GERs to provide grid services for managing local distribution needs affordably (presentation). Robert Cully from the New York Department of Public Service described his state’s programs and approaches to advance GERs, including demand flexibility, to provide distribution-level services (presentation). Recording is here.

• DCP is a model for utilities to procure and utilize DERs at scale. Through DCP, utilities plan, deploy, own, and manage customer-sited DERs based on where they can provide the most grid value as a scalable new source of verifiable, firm, and dispatchable capacity and infrastructure resources.

NARUC: Alberg, A., Valuation of Distributed Energy Resources – Information and Application (July 2025)

• Documents examples of regulatory sandboxes and similar approaches, provides lessons on fostering an ecosystem of innovation in the utility sector, identifies emerging best practices, and assesses the value that utilities have delivered to customers through these innovation vehicles. DOE, Office of Electricity supported the study. Register here for as August 13, 2025, 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET.

District of Columbia, Dept. of Energy and Environment, RFI Advancing DER Aggregation and FERC Order 2222 Implementation in DC; responses due August 1, 2025.

• This webinar will offer a structured overview of evolving DER flexibility landscape with focus on four key areas: grid services spectrum, wholesale market participation, distribution-level services, and value stacking. The session will conclude with insights into current research, including: the standardization of Distribution System Operator-DER aggregator interactions; the categories of access costs DER aggregators should account when considering wholesale market participation; broader billing and settlement complexities. See here for more information and registration link.

• SB 846 Load Flex Update
• California's Progress Toward the 7GW Goal
• California Demand Flexibility Summit and Stakeholder Outreach Results
• NY State VDER Tariff - Simplified and Innovative Load Flexibility Implementations
• Piclo - The World's Leading Independent Grid Flexibility Marketplace
• Energinet - Load Shift in Denmark
• Elevate - Hourly Rates in Illinois

• An initiative that offer an initial compensation framework for DERs providing location-specific grid services to the distribution grid and an implementation roadmap intended to guide the longer-term development of offerings for using DER flexibility to support the distribution grid. Site includes links to workshops on DER valuation, compensation, and valuation; final report planned in Summer 2025.

• Provides information on emergent performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs) across the United States. The database is designed to be filterable by a number of factors, including state, utility, status (i.e., active or inactive), incentive type, incentive structure, emergent topic area, and how the utility performed towards the PIM's targets. The database can be downloaded in full or based on specific filter result parameters. The emergent topics tab provides a description for each topic, as well as links to additional information for some of the emergent topics in the database.

• A collaborative community for energy load management practitioners who are dedicated to a more sustainable world through the advancement of grid reliability, resiliency, and technological innovation.

• Held on May 22, 2025, was hosted by the California Energy Commission (CEC), in collaboration with the University of California Davis (UC Davis) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), to explore opportunities and challenges for realizing the statewide goal of 7,000 megawatts (MW) of demand flexibility by 2030, and discuss the role for demand flexibility in ensuring clean, reliable, and affordable energy for California. Agenda and video recordings are available here.

• Provides essential guidance for utilities and regulators designing and implementing VGI initiatives. 
• Register here for May 29, 2025, 1:00 pm ET webinar.

• Examines why demand response participation remains limited in wholesale markets and proposes actionable solutions to unlock its full potential. (Landing page links to full report, executive summary, policy brief, and appendix.)

• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), DCFlex Initiative will demonstrate how data centers can support and stabilize the electric grid while improving interconnection and efficiency.
• International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy and AI (April 2025): includes discussions of data center locational and operational flexibility (sections 2.6.2 and 2.6.3) and AI for grid and end-use optimization (including DERs, flexibility; in chapter 3)
• N. Wang Esram and C. Assadi, Future-Proof AI Data Centers, Grid Reliability, and Affordable Energy: Recommendations for States, ACEEE, (April 2025)
• T.H. Norris, et al., Rethinking Load Growth: Assessing the Potential for Integration of Large Flexible Loads in US Power Systems, Duke University, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability, (February 2025)
• K. Baranco, et al., Fast, scalable, clean, and cheap enough: How off-grid solar microgrids can power the AI race (December 2024)
• Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners Data Center Flexibility: A Call to Action

• Explore how DERMS can provide real-time monitoring, control, and coordination of both front-of-the-meter (FTM) and behind-the-meter (BTM) assets to enable VPPs and provide reliable flexibility by leveraging DERs to shift and shape load.

• Brattle energy analysts prepared a study for the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York Department of Public Service (NY DPS) that assesses the cost-effective, achievable potential for grid flexibility in the state in 2030 and 2040.

• Examines the breadth and scope of recent state policy actions related to VPPs and DER aggregations in the United States and provides an outlook of expected 2025 activity.

• This webinar featured Rajiv Shah of Octopus Energy Group discussing issues of scaling demand flexibility and VPP solutions, drawing on Octopus Energy and Kraken Technologies experiences, including management of over 200,000 devices at over 1 GW of flexible capacity in one of the world’s largest residential VPPs. The webinar covered approaches for optimizing distributed energy resource (DER) management, including technological, policy, regulatory, and customer-facing factors (such as incentive design) as well as establishment of the Mercury Consortium to advance device interoperability. Presentation slides are here and the recording here. 

• This update supplements but does not replace the original 2023 VPP Liftoff Report by providing additional real-world examples, new resources, and updated industry insights that support VPP deployment. (Report, factsheet)

• Examines the evolving role of DERs including EV charging to provide grid services for managing local distribution needs affordably. Shifting from traditional, bulk-power-focused DER use to local distribution-targeted applications is essential for deferring costly distribution infrastructure upgrades while ensuring grid reliability.

• DER Integration Framework: Regulatory Innovation for DER Compensation and Cost Allocation - offers an illustrative technology-neutral, modular regulatory framework to enable flexibility and scalability for DER providers, utilities, and regulators. Clear price signals and incentives encourage the provision of valuable grid services, while equitable cost allocation promotes efficient use of distribution capacity and interconnection resources. 
• Distributed Energy, Utility Scale: 30 Proven Strategies to Increase VPP Enrollment - identifies 30 proven strategies for scaling VPPs through increased enrollment. [Virtual Peaker hosted a webinar on December 12, 2024 – recap and recording access here.]
• Virtual Power Plants: Insights, Profiles and Inventory - Insights into Scaling Virtual Power Plants report and appendix outlines actions that utilities and regulators can take to expand VPPs; the companion Virtual Power Plant Profiles and Inventory describes three conceptual profiles and includes details on more than 790 demand response programs and net energy metering solar plus battery programs, and 180 VPP programs. VPP inventory spreadsheet also available. March 19 webinar can be viewed here. 
• Moving Beyond Direct Load Control: A Maturity Model for Realizing the Promise of Demand Flexibility - discusses a new maturity model that regulators and utilities can use to guide and expand demand flexibility programs and enable the resources to provide more grid services. March 6 webinar can be viewed here. 
• State regulator opportunities to advance distributed energy resources aggregations in wholesale markets - discusses how state regulators can promote the participation of DERs in wholesale markets, including complementary actions that they can take to support Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 2222 implementation. March 6 webinar can be viewed here. 

• Defines and evaluates different types of microgrids, develops criteria to identify priority projects, and recommends key policies to facilitate microgrid deployment in Colorado. It also includes strategies for addressing costs, interconnection standards, and legal considerations, which are among the main challenges for microgrid implementation in the state. The Roadmap includes discussion and examples of microgrids providing resilience, demand flexibility and VPP services.

• The Symposium was held on September 24, 2024, featuring updates on CalFlexHub’s portfolio of projects, information on the latest policies, research, and developments in load flexibility as well as presentations from leaders in the space and keynotes from the California Energy Commission and U.S. Department of Energy. Slides and recordings are available here.

• Mary Tobin, RMI discussed the recent RMI VPP Flipbook that highlights key design elements and lessons to help utilities and states to implement effective VPPs. The Flipbook showcases various technologies, utility participation models, compensation approaches, and third-party partnership roles. The Forum also had presentations from Yoh Kawanami from Hawaiian Electric and Amy Findlay from Eversource on their relevant utility programs and approaches. A recording is available here.

NARUC-NASEO DER Integration and Compensation Initiative: Resources and Activities (webinars, workshops)

• This report provides foundational data on programs and rates that promote demand flexibility in residential and commercial buildings in the United States. Drawing on data from 148 programs and 93 rates, the report describes the structure of demand flexibility events, types and level of incentives, and offers additional detail and outcomes for some programs. The report also reports on dynamic, technology, and related rates features.

• VPP policy principles; April 9, 2024 webinar recording and slides are available on RMI’s website.
• RMI VPP Flipbook is a collection of VPP case studies highlighting key program design elements and takeaways to help utilities and other stakeholders implement efficient and impactful VPP programs.  The VPPs included in the flipbook showcase a variety of technologies, utility participation models, compensation frameworks, and third-party partnership roles to demonstrate the versatility of existing VPPs. The supporting VPP Comparison Matrix consolidates information from the Flipbook to allow the user to filter for VPPs most applicable to their needs.

• This webinar discusses VPP drivers and barriers in the Midwest, scalability and replicability in the region, and lessons offered from other parts of the country. Recording available via here.

• This report builds upon existing literature and leading examples of ADER pricing and programs in practice to equip commissioners and staff at Public Utilities Commissions and State Energy Offices with the fundamentals of ADER grid services, valuation options, and approaches to compensation.

• This Forum focused on industrial demand flexibility and load management to save money, lower emissions, and reduce grid stresses from industrial operations. Dr. Kody Powell (Intermountain Industrial Assessment Center and University of Utah) and Dr. Blake Billings (Oak Ridge National Lab) presented Working Smarter, Not Harder: Opportunities and Challenges for Industrial Demand Response to Support the Grid and Ilia Krupenich and Akruti Gupta of the California Energy Commission (CEC) presented Industrial Energy Innovation in California highlighting industrial load flexibility opportunities and programs in California.

NASEO-NARUC Microgrids and NASEO Rural Working Groups Joint Webinar: Improving Energy Resilience with Rural and Remote Microgrids (May 7, 2024) (Recording, Slides)

• Funded DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy and Office of Electricity to provide high-impact technical assistance and resources at scales and intervals that are responsive to State Energy Office and Public Utility Commission needs through multi-modal support options. It is designed to be responsive to a rapidly changing regulatory and policy landscape that seeks to match the timing and depth of questions with National Laboratory subject matter experts (SME) on key topical areas. This program augments and complements current technical assistance activities undertaken by various DOE program offices.

March 14 U.S. DOE Deep Dive Webinar on the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff VPP report recording is posted.

• This joint webinar of the NASEO-NARUC GEB and Microgrids State Working Groups explored opportunities for electrified transportation integrated with other distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide grid services and support resilience through demand flexibility and vehicle-to-grid (V2G)/vehicle-to-everything (V2X) functionality. Amy McGuire of Highland Electric Fleets (presentation) discussed school bus electrification, including work with Montgomery Co. (MD) on what will be the nation’s largest EV school bus fleet and its piloting of V2G applications. Jeremy Berke of the Washington State Department of Commerce (presentation) discussed the state’s Clean Energy Fund and Grid Modernization Program. Scott Gibson of the Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) (presentation) discussed the utility’s Arlington Microgrid V2G Demonstration Project that incorporates solar generation, battery storage, and V2G charging for the PUD’s EV fleet. (Recording)   

• Calls on industry, utilities, and states to prepare for increasing loads by investing in strategies and technologies that enable demand flexibility, the ability of industrial facilities to adjust their energy consumption in response to grid conditions. 

• This report discusses DER adoption and grid service potential of aggregated DER portfolios in the United States. It also outlines FERC Order 2222 goals, barriers to aggregated DER wholesale market participation, and discusses and offers recommendations on alternative grid participation methods for aggregated DERs.

• Workshop Series 1 presentations and recordings
• Workshop Series 2 upcoming

• NASEO Grid-Edge/Demand Flexibility/GEB Resources, including past webinars
• NASEO-NARUC GEB State Interviews
• GEB Working Group Technical Assistance
  Participation limited to Working Group states, contact GEB@naseo.org or Rodney Sobin rsobin@naseo.org or Jasmine Xie jxie@naseo.org for information