AI Summary
5 min readA decade ago, headlines warned that microgrids and rooftop solar might put major power companies out of business. That didn't happen. The "utility death spiral" never materialized, and distributed energy resources (DERs) mostly failed to deliver on their promise of a decentralized, flexible grid. But according to Shayle Kann and his partner Andy Lubershane, the fundamental conditions have now flipped. The power system desperately needs the capacity that DERs can provide, and the economics are finally starting to line up.
Why DERs flopped the first time
Lubershane identifies two primary reasons the early wave of DER hype (circa 2014–2017) was premature. First, the grid simply didn't need them. Load growth was flat for nearly two decades. Utility engineers tasked with finding "non-wires alternatives" — using batteries or demand response instead of building new substations — came up empty. There were almost no places on the distribution system where the pressure was urgent enough to justify the complexity of a DER solution. As Kann puts it, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
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What you'll learn
- 1 Main Outline
- 2 (00:00) **Episode Introduction** - Steven Lacy introduces a resurfaced episode from fall 2025 about why now is a unique moment for distributed energy resources (DERs) to scale
- 3 (01:28) **Opening Thesis: The Grid's Relationship with DERs Has Flipped** - Shayle Kann sets up the core argument: DERs weren't needed in 2015 but are desperately needed now
- 4 (05:20) **Categorizing DERs: Dispatchable vs. Non-Dispatchable** - Andy Lubershane provides a taxonomy of distributed energy resources, distinguishing between those that offer grid operators an "on-off button" and those that don't
- 5 (11:40) **Why DERs Didn't Take Off a Decade Ago** - Andy diagnoses two primary reasons DER hype in the early-to-mid 2010s was premature
- 6 (18:48) **The Second Barrier: DERs Were Expensive** - The cost of hardware fell, but soft costs for deployment remained stubbornly high
- 7 (23:51) **The Core Thesis: The Time Is Now** - Both Shayle and Andy argue that the two historical barriers have fundamentally shifted
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
A decade ago, DERs were hot. The hype was that things like batteries, smart devices, and other distributed energy technologies would offset the need for expanding traditional grid infrastructure.
But DERs never took off, at least not at the scale that many hoped for. They had high price tags and short track records compared to the existing substations, transmission lines, and generation options that utilities were familiar with. In short, the market didn’t need them yet.
Fast forward 10 years, and things have changed. Load growth is increasing while major grid bottlenecks — like in transmission, interconnection, and supply chains — may be opening up a new opportunity.
So is the time finally right for DERs? In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, partner and head of research at Energy Impact Partners. Last week, Andy published a blog post making the case that DERs were a good idea that was just too early, but the market is ready now. Original episode date: 9/18/2025.
Shayle and Andy cover topics like:
- What held DERs back a decade ago
- Why now is different, including falling system costs and growing grid bottlenecks
- The difference between demand response and virtual power plants
- The potential hurdles to scale, like supply chain bottlenecks, foreign entity of concern regulations, and fire codes
Resources:
Latitude Media: Can distributed energy answer AI’s power problem?
Open Circuit: The grid flexibility solutions staring us in the face
Catalyst: Making DERs work for load growth
Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.
This episode of Catalyst is brought to you by ENGIE, the smarter energy supplier. ENGIE doesn't just provide the power to run your business — they supply the energy to move it forward, with reliable, flexible solutions built for what's next. Learn more at engieresources.com.
Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. Peak season puts every grid to the test — and the utilities that pass are the ones that built flexible capacity before they needed it. EnergyHub works with more than 170 utilities to coordinate 2.5 million devices and 3.4 gigawatts of dispatchable flexibility through a single platform designed to perform when it coun
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