Project Description:
In Canada, Alectra Utilities is piloting the “Centricity: Empowering Customers in Future Grid Evolution” project with C$6M federal support canada.ca. It transforms distribution customers into active market participants by enabling their rooftop solar and battery systems to bid into electricity markets. The initiative deploys advanced DER management and market software to let households provide demand response and ancillary services. By linking customer-owned renewables to grid operations, the project innovatively decentralizes energy resources. The demonstration’s value is its replicability: the architecture for engaging customers and aggregating their devices can be applied by other utilities worldwide. It provides a concrete example of how smart-grid platforms can harness distributed assets to enhance flexibility and defer infrastructure investments.
It transforms distribution customers into active market participants by enabling their rooftop solar and battery systems to bid into electricity markets
The initiative deploys advanced DER management and market software to let households provide demand response and ancillary services. By linking customer-owned renewables to grid operations, the project innovatively decentralizes energy resources. The demonstration’s value is its replicability: the architecture for engaging customers and aggregating their devices can be applied by other utilities worldwide. It provides a concrete example of how smart-grid platforms can harness distributed assets to enhance flexibility and defer infrastructure investments.