Distributed Energy Resources: Breaking Down Barriers

Distributed energy resources (DER) are smaller-scale clean energy resources, such as renewable energy and energy storage resources, located near customer load. In recent years, DERs have made great strides due to market reforms, advanced technologies, and declining costs. Despite these advances, DERs serve less than 1% of electricity load nationally. Many barriers exist to greater deployment of DERs. These barriers include the utility business model, market structure, and regulatory policies.