All Things DER: Combining IT and Engineering to Improve Demand and Response Energy Efficiency Programs
Welcome to the All Things DER podcast! In this podcast, we’ll be digging in, defining, and discussing where the new energy economy is heading with electric industry leaders, and explore all the ways that distributed energy resources can modernize and improve our ever-evolving power grid.
In today’s episode, we’re talking with Chris Van Lokeren, the Chief Information Officer at North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation. We discuss the importance of combining IT and engineering to incorporate DER into the ever-evolving power grid to create more value, improve your organization, and ultimately make your community a better place through improvements in reliability and dependability. From creating a micro grid on a hog farm through the use of the methane that’s released from hog waste to better utilizing data to increase energy efficiency and even electric vehicles, we cover a wide array of topics that have the potential to lead us to continuously improving the world’s largest machine, the power grid.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
- Why utilities are behind in the analytics space, and ways we can improve this
- How asking the right questions and using data correctly can create more value in your organization
- How North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation are utilizing DO, distribution operators, and demand and response energy efficiency programs
- Why AMI meter are so integral in developing the power grid in rural areas
- What North Carolina has done to encourage and prepare for the use of electric vehicles in their state
- Why batteries and electric storage are one of the biggest places to focus on cutting-edge innovations in the energy sector right now