At Budderfly, we take great pride in having an incredible team of experts who have deep knowledge across energy efficiency, technology, renewables, data, and more. We are also passionate about knowledge sharing, and in this new blog series we are interviewing Budderfly employees about their expertise and experience in the energy space. We recently sat down with Budderfly’s Director of Energy Markets, Beth Crouchet, and discussed the importance of DERMS and Budderfly’s plans to use this innovative technology to take our energy saving solutions to the next level.   

What are DERMs? 

Beth: DERMs stands for Distributed Energy Resource Management System, which is really just a complicated way of saying IoT devices that are controllable, use energy, and communicate. These devices are found in homes, restaurants, or facilities and can be optimized for smarter energy use. 

What are peak times and why are they an issue? 

Beth: The daily need for energy involves large facilities, smaller commercial spaces, and residences all needing energy at the same time. In the morning, around 7 AM, energy use spikes as people start their day and offices begin turning their systems on. That usage goes down as everyone leaves for work, then rises again around 4 PM to 6 PM when residential demand peaks as people return home and adjust their thermostats before commercial facilities have shut down fully for the night. This creates a point of maximization for energy demand. 

Every month, as populations and businesses grow, we see this peak demand increase. What we’re trying to do is reduce that peak to help prevent rolling blackouts. When demand exceeds supply, physical damage to equipment can occur. 

How does DERMS technology tie into energy use and help lessen the load on the grid? 

Beth: The grid is incredibly stressed. It's aging equipment that was put in over a hundred years ago. The lines have a limited capacity and serve populations that used to be much smaller. As our towns expand, we need more grid infrastructure. We can either have giant bills imposed on people and businesses from utilities to upgrade everything, or we can implement demand response, specifically this virtual power plant concept we’re building. 

Any given site will have a peak in their energy use, a specific time of day when they use the most energy. When the capacity in a location hits its peak, we can reduce that demand. You can think of it like a water hose; if you have a small hose at full throttle and you need more water, you risk busting it. The electric grid is similar; the lines can only handle so much. We're reducing the amount of water needed at the end of that hose so we don’t break the lines and can buy time for future infrastructure upgrades. It also reduces the need for dirty generation that’s harmful for many reasons, climate change being one of them. 

How does DERMs tie in with Budderfly’s energy as a service offering? 

Beth: So, right now, we install a lot of equipment on-site, and the DERMs system will come over that equipment to help optimize each site for energy efficiency. It gives us more savings and helps reduce demand charges, directly lowering the energy bill. It will also unify all the sites in the portfolio to help reduce energy on the grid, giving us revenue and benefiting our sites. This will give our sites better control, comfort, and advanced capabilities so that we can manage energy use across both the grid and the sites in tandem. 

How are we testing and innovating in this space? 

Beth: Demand response and virtual power plants have been used by large industrial companies for decades, and residential programs have existed for 30 years. However, this small commercial space doesn't have demand response readily available. This is where we’re testing and innovating to bridge that gap. 

At Budderfly, we're using our current infrastructure, the advanced HVAC systems, and other equipment to control sites and ensure they’re comfortable while optimizing energy use. In our lab and at other facilities where we have batteries, we can draw from those batteries instead of the grid, supporting both the grid and our customers. 

How will battery technology impact the future of energy management? 

Beth: Battery technology will completely change the game. Maintaining comfort is our number one goal, and having batteries allows us to take sites off-grid when needed without harming operations. This flexibility completely transforms demand response and energy efficiency. Plus, it enhances resilience against extreme weather events, protecting equipment and resources. 

How do batteries and solar work together? 

Beth: When one of our facilities adds solar, they can produce their own energy. With batteries, we can store that energy for later use, especially during peak times when demand is high, like dinner time. This combination allows us to offset peak demand, ultimately benefiting both our clients and the grid.