DER Task Force DERVOS 2025: Permissionless DERs Wait for No One
Jan 14, 2026
Kevin Chou, founder of BrightSaver, discusses Utah's pioneering legislation for permissionless DERs. Bala Ramamurthy, CEO of Critical Loop, shares insights on rapid-access power for industrial users. Cole Ashman, of Pila Energy, links rising consumer demand and outages to the urgency for plug-in solutions. Stephan Scherer emphasizes the importance of regulatory frameworks for safety in this new tech category. The panel debates the transition of plug-in solar to commonplace appliances, aiming to simplify access and installation for consumers.
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Make Laws Simple To Unlock Plug-In DERs
- Do pursue simple, short laws that remove interconnection and permitting hurdles to enable plug-in DER adoption.
- Make devices plug-and-play so consumers can buy and install without utility agreements or fees, Kevin Chou argues.
Technology And Emotion Drive Consumer Demand
- Cheaper batteries and better edge compute have made small, consumer-installable DERs viable now.
- People buy resilience and convenience, not grid services, so products must meet those emotional customer needs, Cole Ashman explains.
Germany's Balcony Solar Explosion
- Germany's DIY 'balcony solar' boom after the Ukraine war sparked huge plug-in solar uptake with millions of households adopting small systems.
- That grassroots adoption shows market forces can rapidly scale simple, plug-in solar when prices and necessity align, Kevin Chou recounts.