Volts How to make a market for distributed energy flexibility
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Nov 12, 2025 James Johnston, Co-founder and CEO of Piclo, explains how their innovative marketplace connects buyers and sellers of distributed energy resources. He discusses the challenges of coordination in current markets and how Piclo's open platform addresses these issues, allowing utilities to procure flexibility easily. Johnston highlights the potential for data centers to speed up grid access by paying for flexibility, potentially unlocking billions in investment. He also shares insights on seller vetting, market transparency, and the long-term vision of marketplaces as a key layer in decentralized energy.
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Make Flexibility A Fungible Commodity
- Piclo treats flexibility as a fungible commodity by asking buyers to publish needs, not prescribe technologies.
- That design lets unexpected, lower-cost providers (like EV chargers) outcompete traditional assets.
Opening Markets Reveals Hidden Value
- Opening procurement to all technologies revealed new participants and much lower bids than incumbent plants.
- Market openness drove surprising efficiency and rapidly evolved asset mix in the UK.
Standardize Rules To Increase Participation
- Standardize buyer rule-sets and contract terms to avoid unnecessary participation barriers.
- Engage buyers to design inclusive technical parameters so the marketplace can scale.