The dawn of a new DERcade

This wide-ranging conversation captures three energy industry practitioners reflecting on the transition from what they see as the end of one era to the beginning of another in distributed energy resources. The hosts share personal resolutions that reflect their professional maturation - moving from survival mode to optimization and enjoyment of their work. Their discussion of Derbos (their annual conference) reveals how the distributed energy community has evolved from theoretical debates to practical implementation challenges, with utility executives now actively engaging rather than dismissing DER concepts.

The technical discussion centers on 'permissionless' distributed energy resources - particularly David Energy's plug-in battery systems that can be installed without utility interconnection agreements. This represents a fundamental shift from resilience-focused messaging to pure affordability, with installations costing $500 and taking five days rather than months of permitting. The hosts see this as potentially transformative because it makes energy storage an actual consumer product rather than a complex infrastructure project requiring contractors, financing, and regulatory approval.

Their predictions for 2026 reflect deep concern about institutional capacity to handle AI-driven load growth. They argue that while load growth gets blamed for rising electricity costs, the real issue is decades of institutional decay in utility regulation and grid management. The conversation touches on everything from supply chain constraints (particularly gas turbines) to the possibility of tech companies becoming the dominant energy players. They see potential for dramatic policy changes, possibly including states re-regulating their electricity markets or implementing 'flexible interconnection' policies that allow rapid connection with curtailment rights. The discussion concludes with speculation about AI's broader economic impacts, from democratizing professional services to potentially creating new forms of economic inequality based on access to automation versus manual labor.