Part 1: What if DERs Operated Like Data Centers
By Oleg Popovsky (with framing, tone, and concept co-developed with Velvet Voelz)
This series, From Grid Disjointedness to Grid Orchestration, explores the renewable energy industry’s evolution—from unresponsive assets and fragmented infrastructure to AI-augmented strategies for resilient, responsive, and affordable power that produces stable and attractive returns.
Part 1: What If DERs Operated Like Data Centers? Why Intelligent Energy Infrastructure Is the Next Frontier for Innovation, Capital, and Climate Resilience
Every now and then, a conversation or a shift in perspective makes you realize: we’re at a crossroads in the energy world—where simply building clean power isn’t enough. To compete in today’s volatile landscape, our energy systems need to be sharp, agile, and aware. Not just clean, but smart.
This shift reminds me of a time earlier in my career when I was at EMC, helping enterprise clients—media companies, insurance giants, global energy firms—rethink their data strategies. The companies that came out ahead didn’t just stack servers. They got smart about how they moved, stored, and prioritized data. They virtualized, orchestrated, and adapted.
That same mindset is exactly what we need at the grid edge today.
Localized Resilience: Renewables as an Economic Hedge
We’re all feeling the impacts of a shaky global energy market. Rising fuel prices, supply chain snags, geopolitical tensions. In the middle of all this, renewables have become more than a climate play—they’re an insurance policy.
Utility-scale solar and wind are already pushing down prices in many markets. And now DERs—batteries, EVs, local solar—are bringing those benefits closer to home. When energy is generated and consumed locally, it’s more predictable, more resilient, and frankly, a better deal for everyone.
From Static Assets to Responsive Players
Let’s be real. Most DERs today aren’t very dynamic. You install them, you save some money, maybe you report it in your ESG stats—and that’s about it. They don’t respond to market signals, they don’t adjust to demand spikes, and they certainly don’t talk to the grid.
It’s like owning a shiny data center with no automation. You’ve got the gear, but none of the smarts.
That’s the opportunity: making DERs act more like intelligent infrastructure—able to forecast, adapt, and perform.
What the DER Stack Can Really Do
When equipped with the right intelligence, these assets become multipliers:
Boosting profitability—by shifting loads, shaving peaks, and even bidding into markets.
Enhancing resilience—providing backup when the grid’s strained.
Staying responsive—supporting grid services like frequency regulation and vehicle-to-grid discharging.
And now, with multimodal AI, that orchestration layer is smarter than ever. These systems can ingest weather forecasts, asset states, price curves, behaviour patterns, and market rules—and make adaptive decisions in milliseconds.
Think about how AI in logistics helped Amazon predict, package, and deliver faster. How Tesla’s onboard systems learn from drivers and adjust in real time. Or how smart thermostats optimize energy use across millions of homes. That same kind of intelligence is what we now need at the grid edge. Or how Tesla’s vehicle-integrated controls learn from driver and grid behavior. In that same spirit, imagine AI-enhanced balcony solar with plug-and-play V2H functionality that not only generates power but trades it intelligently based on household needs and grid stress.
Investors Are Watching
The people writing the checks for this energy transition are no longer just chasing scale. They’re looking for smarts. Flexibility. Insurable returns.
They’re asking: Can this asset deliver revenue in multiple ways? Can it adjust in real-time to market dynamics? Is it resilient enough to weather policy and climate shocks?
That’s the new investment thesis.
Market Watch
NextEra added 3 GW of new projects in one quarter—a third of that serving data centers! Their optimism extends through 2029, despite changing tax incentives. That confidence comes from knowing their projects can flex with the market.
A Better Mindset: Think Like a Data Architect
Let’s ditch the old-school install-and-walk-away mentality. Think like someone managing a distributed computing environment:
Track performance in real time.
Forecast loads and prioritize accordingly.
Use feedback loops to improve outcomes.
We don’t just need DERs. We need smart, orchestrated DERs.
Bringing It All Together
DERs are the future of energy infrastructure—but only if we treat them as such. Give them the intelligence, controls, and incentives they need to thrive, and they’ll drive reliability, affordability, and climate resilience.
At the same time, utility-scale renewables continue to bring long-term price stability and decarbonization at scale. Together, this hybrid model can shield us from global shocks and unlock real economic value.
But only if we move beyond installation to orchestration.
Oleg Popovsky is a founder and strategic advisor to cleantech companies focused on energy intelligence, DER monetization, and infrastructure innovation. With thanks to Velvet Voelz, whose insights, questions, and conceptual input helped shape the direction of this piece—and the broader series it launches.
This article was originally published on Linkedin.