To Energy Management Providers: Push Into The DER Space

There’s a shift occurring in the energy management space. In the US, FERC Order No. 2222 has opened wholesale markets to aggregated DERs. While implementation is progressing, this is uneven across RTOs/ISOs, creating near‑term opportunities wherever timelines and telemetry rules are clearest. In the UK, DSO flexibility has scaled rapidly; domestic devices dominate by number, yet commercial and industrial (C&I) assets deliver over 60% of registered capacity, creating attractive economics for C&I portfolios. Meanwhile, the European Commission’s December 2025 proposal for mandatory national targets on zero‑ and low‑emission corporate fleets from 2030 will accelerate workplace and depot charging across Europe, turning sites into flexible resources at scale. As a result of these changes, the EMS and C&I demand response markets are both pivoting from ‘savings and optimization’ software to two higher‑value models: orchestrating flexibility within DERMS/VPP ecosystems and bundling electrification as a financed, outcome‑guaranteed service.

Play 1: Orchestrate flexibility
Vendors with EMS/BMS/FEMS footprints already hold the most trusted operational telemetry (schedules, process windows, comfort bounds). By partnering with VPP platforms and retailers, those data reveal dispatchable, revenue‑earning capacity across DSO tenders and wholesale products. For example, EDF is partnering with Hypervolt to use the vendor’s UltraGrid software and EDF’s PowerShift platform so the retailer can enrol EV chargers and automate flexibility services such as frequency response. Put simply, the vendor enables the DR programme through the retailer. Meanwhile, AutoGrid’s VPP model – consisting of software combined with a 24/7 NOC and an OEM ecosystem – shows the operational maturity utilities expect when they outsource delivery risk and settlement. Vendors can also look to be involved in wider utility ecosystems expanding from retail-only to distribution operations via end-to-end DERMS partnerships. These multi-partner enterprise solutions require standards‑based telemetry and clean integrations with utility systems and markets; GE Vernova’s GridOS DERMS exemplifies the orchestration and interoperability that make this kind of portfolios safe to operate.

Play 2: Bundle outcomes via partnerships
The other option for vendors is to make EMS the control and measurement and verification (M&V) spine of hardware‑bundled, financed offers. Delivered with charger OEMs, PV/inverter and battery suppliers, switchgear makers, or microgrid integrators, this allows customers to buy guaranteed uptime, kW response and CO₂e reductions as a combined service. The template is already visible at scale. AlphaStruxure (a combined venture between Schneider Electric and Carlyle) bundles solar, storage, fuel cells and EV charging into turnkey microgrids that the organization designs, finances, owns and operates under performance guarantees. For C&I campuses, Centrica Business Solutions bundles and finances on-site PV and battery storage, then operates and optimizes those assets over multi‑year contracts. And at a residential level, Octopus Energy’s Power Pack bundle combines Kraken’s energy management platform, and an EV and bi-directional charger, in a single consumer-facing offering via partnerships with BYD and Zaptec.

Looking ahead, EMS vendors should merge the strengths of flexibility orchestration and outcome‑based bundled offerings into a unified growth strategy. They should build on their role as the trusted telemetry and control layer for VPPs and DERMS integrations – where operational data reveal dispatchable capacity across DSO and wholesale markets. Vendors can extend this position by embedding their EMS platforms into financed, hardware‑bundled solutions that guarantee uptime, load response and carbon performance for customers. The next step is to put these ideas into practice in a practical, focused way: choose a couple of priority markets, partner with retailers or VPP operators that already have scale, and launch a simple bundled offer that combines hardware, financing and guaranteed energy outcomes. By doing this, EMS vendors can move from being just a control system to becoming a full solution provider – one that delivers predictable value across markets, not just localized software features.