It's All in the Plans: Maximizing the Benefits and Minimizing the Impacts of DERs in an Integrated Grid

Distribution planners are facing a new reality: the vast majority of new generation currently being connected to the grid is through the distribution system. This "edge" of the grid, where utilities have the least amount of visibility and controllability, is also where most of the change is occurring. The result is a new set of challenges associated with further integrating these ever increasing levels of distributed energy resources (DERs). To meet these challenges, an integrated approach for planning is needed.