Texas is saddled with a vulnerable energy system: Winter Storm Uri and this summer’s extended heat wave proved that. Now, distributed energy resources are getting some attention—finally. 

State regulators are looking at how aggregated DERs could give the ERCOT grid greater stability. On the table is an 80 MW virtual power plant pilot that could serve as a showcase and building block for a much larger set of DERs.

Amy Heart, who leads public policy at Sunrun, helped craft the pilot as a member of the ADER task force. She joins the Texas Power Podcast to discuss lessons learned from past weather events, talk about current market redesign efforts, and offer insights into the future for DERs in Texas.