All Things DER: How Ameren Illinois is Managing the Clean Energy Transition
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 Andy Parker, the manager of DER Integration & Strategy for Ameren Illinois. We discuss the variety of ways DER continues to change customer needs and desires while also looking for ongoing opportunities to integrate education across the spectrum. From how technology has driven changes in policy to integrating analytics and system planning, we dig into the multitude of opportunities that arise as we work together to bring the power grid into this new era of DER and clean energy while aligning the benefits this transition can have for both stakeholders and customers.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
- How a variety of incentives have driven the demand for solar growth across Illinois.
- Why the advancements of technology have lead to changes in policies and rules to better serve customers.
- How larger installs now have the capability to enable direct transfer drip, and other ways DER enables Ameren to grow.
- What hosting capacity maps have done to engage stakeholders and improve the transfer of information across departments.
- How the process of planning has changed over the years with advancements of DER and the changes in customer needs and desires.
- How the communication between utility companies and customers has evolved to encompass the dynamic aspect of DER.
- How building the foundational aspects of integrating DER allows the opportunity for various types of future benefits for meeting customer needs.
- Why stakeholder engagement and customer education are key factors to building momentum and efficient adoption of DER.