A northeast investor-owned utility retained Concentric to examine the potential business and operational impacts of increasing amounts of distributed energy resources on their distribution system. At the same time, our client wanted to explore the strategic implications of the Distribution System Operator (DSO) concept. The goal was to develop a Design Model for the DSO that could be shared with executive management to inform long-term strategy.
Our visual presentation-style report addressed several sub-tasks, including:
- DSO Capabilities Assessment including a high-level assessment of readiness for high penetration DER within Distribution Planning, Grid Operations, Customer Programs, and Procurement/Market Services.
- DSO Design Model including attributes such as sources of value for customers, DERs, and shareholders, and the regulators’ role in influencing and allocating value and risk among participants.
- DSO Design Model Implications on the organization, including roles and responsibilities to operate in a high-penetration DER ecosystem.
