Is this moment for distributed energy different?

26 snips

Oct 3, 2025

Tim Hade, co-founder of Brightfield Infrastructure and a veteran in the distributed energy realm, dives into the pivotal moment for distributed energy resources (DERs). He discusses the compelling shift from viewing DERs as mere experiments to essential infrastructure. The conversation highlights the push from hyperscalers and consumer demand against traditional utilities' resistance. Tim warns of the political and financial consequences of ignoring DERs, urging quicker adoption to avert grid failures and explore the role of AI in optimizing energy solutions.

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ANECDOTE

FDR, Ford, And A Public-Private Lesson

Tim told the FDR–Henry Ford WWII bomber story to argue public-private partnership urgency.
He concluded the U.S. energy transition now looks privately led rather than a wartime-scale public mobilization.

INSIGHT

DERs Have Reached A Tipping Point

DERs have flipped from 'nice-to-have' experiments to potential distributed capacity resources as demand and technology change.
The timing now aligns: rising load, falling battery costs, and urgent local capacity needs make DERs economically and operationally viable.

INSIGHT

Grid Failure Makes DERs Inevitable

The U.S. electric grid is failing on affordability, reliability, and resilience, making DERs inevitable.
Utilities must adopt DERs proactively or face wider deployments after failures and political backlash.

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Distributed energy resources have never looked stronger. Fleets of batteries are now performing like gas plants, virtual power plants are dispatched daily, and hyperscalers are supporting new models to finance capacity around their data centers.

But investor-owned utilities? The Edison Electric Institute says they’re planning more than a trillion dollars in new infrastructure over the next decade to support historic load growth — with no mention of DERs or flexibility as solutions.

So which world are we living in? The one where DERs become essential infrastructure, or the one where they remain a rounding error for utilities?

This week, we examine this critical moment for distributed resources. Tim Hade, a co-founder of Brightfield Infrastructure and former COO of Scale Microgrids, joins us to talk about the tug-of-war at the heart of the grid transition.

We unpack a recent historical overview of DERs from Andy Lubershane, who argues that technical innovation and the desperate rush to meet load growth is turning them from nice-to-have experiments into distributed capacity resources that grid operators can actually count on.

We also dig into EEI’s new report on utility planning, and examine why utilities still resist DERs even as customers and data centers push them forward. What are the consequences of ignoring them at this precarious moment when power prices are rising quickly?

Open Circuit is brought to you by Natural Power. Natural Power specializes in renewable energy consulting and engineering, supporting wind, solar, and battery storage projects from concept through financing. Discover how we're creating a world powered by renewable energy at naturalpower.com.

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