A new report by The Brattle Group and Pew Charitable Trusts says removing barriers and advancing policies around distributed energy resources (DERs) could save the U.S. an estimated $614 billion in energy costs by 2050.

The new report, ‘The National Case for a More Distributed Power Grid: New Evidence on Affordability and Demand Growth,’ says the country could more then quadruple its DER capacity through removing these policy barriers. Leveraging resources across the country to meet spiking electrical demand could have a profound effect, adding more than 400 GW of power to the American energy grid by 2050.

The report says this methodology would offset “roughly half” of the U.S.’s projected household electricity bill increases by 2050. This number does not account for those related to inflation, the report authors note.

“Many homes and businesses already have technologies that could help the grid meet rising demand, and adoption of those technologies will continue to grow. The opportunity is to treat them as resources in utility planning rather than leave their capabilities untapped,” says Ryan Hledik, a Brattle principal and co-author of the report. “At scale, DERs could avoid or defer a portion of US infrastructure investment needs, reduce pressure on household bills, and give utilities more flexibility in the face of uncertain demand.”

The report releases as a complement to Pew’s April whitepaper, ‘Distributed Energy Can Unleash the Resilient, Affordable Grid of the Future,’ according to officials. The April report outlined six policy recommendations for DER adoption and implementation, including incorporating them into distribution system planning, reducing permitting costs, and reforming interconnections.

Brattle officials found that these three policy tweaks alone could deliver up to $266 billion in avoided power system costs through 2050.

Notable report findings

The argument that will allow renewable energy and distributed energy resources to win in the U.S. is affordability, Brattle Group research says. The report finds that DERs would enable a $122 per year reduction in average households electrical bills by 2050. Additionally, the potential resources will allow customers to see direct compensation from the services they provide to the grid.

“At a time of historic demand from data centers, new manufacturing, and electrification, DERs can provide a significant new energy supply if barriers to their adoption are removed,” says Maureen Quinlan, Pew’s senior manager of clean grid and energy. “This report underscores how pragmatic policy changes that enable DER technology can save billions, cut emissions, and help build a more affordable, reliable, and flexible grid that meets today’s and tomorrow’s energy needs.”

Outside of financial benefits, the report finds that expanding DERs would shift about 105 GW of utility-scale battery storage to distributed storage for grid flexibility. The resources would have a potentially profound effect on the environment, reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 3% in the U.S.

The report’s analysis covers 25 U.S. regions, and estimates that DERs could offset about 175 GW of utility-scale capacity, making it more affordable to fund a decarbonized power system. The Brattle Group’s research says that by 2050, DERs could cut annual electrical generation costs across the board by 20%, accounting for $45 billion.

— Solar Builder magazine