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Itron Named a Representative Vendor in 2023 Gartner® Market Guide for Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems

December 15, 2023

In a time where decarbonization mandates and sustainability goals are reshaping how utilities deliver and manage energy, electricity providers continue to grapple with complexities related to renewable energy integration, fluctuating energy demands, aging infrastructure and more. As a leading innovator in distributed energy resource (DER) management, Itron is at the forefront of this transformation, offering cutting-edge technologies, tailored solutions and seasoned expertise for utilities to successfully navigate an evolving DER landscape.

We are excited to share that Itron was recently recognized as a Representative Vendor in the 2023 Gartner Market Snapshot and Market Guide for Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS), which provides research and insights into the evolving DERMS market, functional requirements and regulatory mandates for cities and utilities across the globe. 

Renewable and distributed energy technologies continue to proliferate the grid and it has become more challenging than ever before for utilities to uphold power quality, balance supply and demand and ensure sufficient distribution capacity. Itron has the complete program solution to help utilities do exactly that. With our industry-leading distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) platform, DER Optimizer, we support a myriad of behind-the-meter appliances and leverage them to ensure grid optimization. In addition, built upon the foundation of Itron’s Demand Response Management System (DRMS), IntelliSOURCE® EnterpriseTM, Itron’s DER Optimizer solution enables utilities to expand their legacy demand response programs to include a wide range of DERs, including electric vehicles, smart inverters, battery storage systems and other flexible loads. The DER Optimizer leverages native integrations with Itron’s distributed intelligence (DI) platform and networks to deliver real-time DER analytics and optimization at the edge with latencies that cannot be matched through purely cloud-based solutions. With analytics, forecasting, DERMS, customer outreach services and Distributed Intelligence smart meters and networks, Itron provides turnkey solutions to enable utilities to advance distributed energy and decarbonization objectives, while optimizing and enhancing their distribution grids.

A few key findings from the Gartner report include:

  • “Distributed energy resources deployment continues to accelerate as DER proliferation and penetration increase, which are driven by government incentives and mandates. Pilot projects are demonstrating technical results, but value realization with additional revenue remains challenging.
  • Utilities are finding it complicated to integrate and orchestrate DERs due to the number of participating systems and closed vendor-centric ecosystems.
  • Distributed energy resource management systems is heading into the Trough of Disillusionment on the 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle™ for Digital Grid
  • Transformation Technologies, meaning that no single vendor can meet all use cases for all utilities. More mergers and acquisitions along with some vendor partnerships are expected.
  • The lack of consistent data that reflects customer-owned assets accurately blended onto a full network model remains the key weakness of DERMS implementations. Some vendors are addressing this issue with network model managers.”

 

To download the report, visit our landing page. To learn more about use cases and opportunities to integrate distributed energy resources with Itron’s DERMS solution, visit www.itron.com/DERMS.

Gartner, Market Guide for DERMS, 28 November 2023, Lloyd Jones, Jo-Ann Clynch

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark, and HYPE CYCLE is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

 
 
 

By Nick Tumilowicz

Director of Product Management, Distributed Energy Management Solutions

Team leader, strategist, and recognized expert in DER management, including solar, storage, and EV technology leveraging decades of unique industry experience to advance global markets toward a clean energy future. Building on a progressive career arc from a mechanical engineering, to renewable energy resource deployments, to global product portfolio management. This professional breadth supports a specialized talent for big-picture visioning, whole-system strategies, and cross-discipline solutions for increasing the scale of renewable energy’s positive impact on business and society.

In his current capacity as Itron’s Director of Product Management, Nick leads the Distributed Energy Management business unit, accountable for global product development of demand response and DER solutions enabling access to flexible customer energy resources. Prior to joining Itron, Tumilowicz led global research and development at EPRI, accountable for transmission, distribution, and customer-connected energy storage research. As Director of Product Management at SunEdison, led the world’s largest managed renewable power plant fleet across six continents, managing data acquisition, and control platform, operating a fleet of over 4 GW of renewable generation assets. Earlier in his career, Tumilowicz built and managed the service department at the nation’s leading renewable integrator, REC Solar (now Sunrun and Duke Energy), designing and deploying the country’s first commercial fleet of rooftop solar.

Nick is an industry leader having held a variety of positions on advisory councils: Department of Energy (NREL, Building Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office), General Services Administration, California Energy Commission, GridFWD Leadership Committee, Incubate Energy Labs, Saudi Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnecting Authority.