FlexEnergi has announced the field deployment of its next-generation Ora Edge Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), which the company says has been adopted by utility partners.

The platform is designed to help utilities manage flexible load at the feeder and substation levels. It can be used for targeted congestion relief, load shaping, load building and dispatchable capacity across residential, small and medium business, agricultural and large commercial customer segments.

FlexEnergi combines the DERMS platform with a performance-based Capacity-as-a-Service (CaaS) model. Under the model, utilities can procure flexible capacity in defined megawatt blocks, while FlexEnergi is compensated based on delivered capacity performance.

The platform provides managed applications for utility operators, program managers and participating customers.

Moving Beyond Event-Based Demand Response

Traditional demand response programs have often centered on periodic events intended to reduce system-wide peak demand. FlexEnergi's Ora Edge DERMS is designed for continuous, locational optimization, allowing utilities to manage flexible demand based on conditions on specific parts of the distribution system.

The platform can orchestrate behind-the-meter resources across homes, apartments, commercial buildings and facilities, agricultural operations, batteries and electric vehicles.

Dispatch can be triggered by wholesale price signals, weather events or directly by utility SCADA or ADMS systems in response to grid constraints.

The system also can manage electric vehicle charging and batteries, shifting or shaping load to provide a dispatchable resource.

In addition to reducing load, the platform can be used to build load. FlexEnergi says this capability can help balance sudden changes in demand, including fluctuations associated with large loads, as well as absorb surplus generation from wind and solar resources.

Under the company's CaaS model, FlexEnergi manages elements of program delivery, including program design, customer recruitment, settlements, participant support and payments. The model is intended to shift some of the financial and operational responsibilities associated with developing flexible capacity from utilities to the service provider.

The platform also supports Bring Your Own Capacity (BYOC) arrangements for data centers and other large loads. Under these arrangements, data center operators and developers can work with their local utility to use flexible capacity through the Ora platform.

“Whether the grid needs load reduced, increased, or shifted, utilities can continuously dispatch behind-the-meter resources in response to real-time grid and or market conditions,” said Farshid Arman, president of FlexEnergi.

The platform is designed to support dispatch across multiple customer segments through a unified architecture and can target flexible capacity to individual feeders, transformers or substations rather than relying solely on system-level dispatch.