DERs will have the greatest impact once they have a greater reach

As demand for electricity increases, and the urgency to reduce carbon emissions travels on a parallel track, so too have concerns over whether the grid can have enough load to provide adequate power. This is where distributed energy resources can and have made a major impact.  

Distributed energy resources, or DERs, is a broad term that touches everything from energy storage batteries to at-home solar and even electric vehicles. DERs can provide power independent of the larger bulk power system, which helps decrease demand. Think about residential solar—it collects solar energy on the rooftop, and powers the home below, allowing that home to rely less on the grid's capabilities. You can similarly think this way about battery storage, which can store electricity produced during the day and then provide power during peak demand hours. At scale, this offers significant relief to both the grid and power customers' energy bills. 

However, DERs, especially when it comes to residential solar, battery storage and electric vehicles, have been largely reserved for high-income earners, restricting their benefits to a specific class of people. If DERs are to make a significant impact now and into the future, the technology and its service needs to be attainable for lower to middle-income earners. 

According to the National Governor's Association, DERs are often funded through utility rates, which means they are cross-subsidized by low to middle-income ratepayers, yet those lower-income ratepayers are often unable to access the tools they help subsidize. How can we change this?

In the U.S., state governments are working to provide opportunities to bring the benefits of DERs to vulnerable and low-income communities. In 2022, Colorado tasked a couple nonprofits with studying the electricity cost burdens  on low-income communities, The study found the state's rural communities, renters, minority populations, mobile home users and low-income households were disproportionately energy cost burdened. However, the study also found that these burdens could be allayed by expanding community solar gardens, energy efficiency programs, and low-interest loans or grants for DERs, while also making progress on the state's carbon emission and clean energy goals. Essentially, bringing vulnerable communities along on the DER and renewable revolution can feed two birds with one scone. The governor went onto sign, among other energy related bills, the Microgrids for Community Resilience Grant Program to bring microgrids to rural and vulnerable communities. 

In Maryland, the state has been working to eliminate barriers to and disparity in renewable energy benefits, through programs that remove upfront costs for community solar systems, offering grants to small, minority and woman-owned businesses for clean and renewable energy, as well as putting money behind developing microgrids in under-resourced communities. 

As the renewable energy revolution wears on, equity needs to be front and center. If renewables and DERs remain only accessible to high-income earners, state and national energy goals tied to calming climate change will never be realized. Once DERs are provided to the masses of under-resourced and low-income earners, emissions and energy goals will become much more realistic.