Hello and welcome to the seventh (and longest) episode of the Guidehouse Insights Plugged In Podcast! On this podcast we do a deep dive on emerging topics from renewable energy to lighting controls to self-driving cars.

This month we spoke with Dan Power, a Senior Research Analyst on the Guidehouse Insights team about his report, "Residential Distributed Energy Resources and Flexibility." Dan leads the research service and consulting projects for Connected Distributed Energy Resources. His research includes virtual power plants, microgrids, demand response, and non-wires alternatives. He's quite Plugged In! Dan also worked as a researcher with the Alliance to Save Energy and worked with power electronics at Northrop Grumman. Dan has a BS and a masters in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland.

In this episode we talk distributed energy resources, virtual power plants, behind the meter batteries, and why sometimes you get a text from your power utility asking to turn off your AC in the summer. We talk about new technologies, how they are replacing the old ways of thinking about the grid, and what's holding us back from a new era in power. We also ask the all-important question: did Dan's name come from his work with electricity?

Thank you to Guidehouse for providing us this platform of discussion. To keep up to date on larger Guidehouse Insights work, follow our industry insights blog on the website: www.guidehouseinsights.com