001-42 EJQR05 SUMMER25 PT - Flipbook - Page 10
sensitive software, or participate in community-based energy hubs that
make the grid more e昀케cient and share the resulting savings amongst
participants. (Although local generation will often be paired in practice
with energy storage and other infrastructure investments, contracts under
the Local Generation Program will pay for generation only, not for energy
storage or other aspects of energy project investments.)
The supply technology is changing, the options for customers to interact
with the grid are changing, and the market is changing. Therefore, the
grid will also be changing.
With a new public program for local generation under development, the
pro昀椀t motive can be expected to drive a multitude of creative initiatives
intended to 昀椀nd pockets of underused capabilities and remarket them as
high-value services.
Could DERs collectively represent a sleeping giant about to awaken,
o昀昀ering attractive new resources, just when society is seeking
large investments in new capacity that can deliver environmentally
responsible energy services at reasonable prices? Ontario’s new local
generation program will be an excellent way to 昀椀nd out.
What DERs could do for the energy system
DERs are often considered one of the most promising categories of new energy
technology. They have been growing rapidly in markets from Europe to Australia
to North America. Because DERs are located close to the end users, they are
typically able to respond very precisely to customer needs, and to real time
market conditions, all without incurring the power loss in transmission and
transformation that are characteristic of large-scale resources located at great
distances from most consumers.
Employing a wide range of technologies that leverage local and regional
advantages, DERs may include installations such as solar panels, high
e昀케ciency co-generation, demand response, biomass and geothermal
resources, combined with battery banks and EV charging stations. The
economies of scale that have for years favoured energy megaprojects could be
challenged at the margins by “economies of manufacturing” where thousands
of small-scale power generation units can be e昀케ciently mass produced and
managed “in concert” by smart control systems. Some jurisdictions are even
paying local resources for assisting the grid through local 昀氀exibility markets.
The potential e昀昀ects on the shape of future growth are quite signi昀椀cant.
Locally produced electricity is often bene昀椀cial to the grid and cost-saving
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • S UM M ER 2 02 5 • P AGE 1 0
