Next OpenEAC Alliance meeting to tackle DER Capacity with an introduction to Demand Efficiency
OpenEAC Alliance Meeting, February 19, 2026
The next OpenEAC Alliance meeting will focus on a topic that’s becoming central to how we think about distributed energy resources: capacity.
As load growth accelerates from data centers, EVs, and electrification, the grid’s challenge is increasingly about capacity (kW), not just energy (kWh). A kWh saved at 2am and a kWh saved during a summer peak are not worth the same thing, but traditional energy efficiency frameworks treat them as if they are. This meeting will introduce the concept of “demand efficiency,” a framework for valuing DERs based on their ability to reduce the need for new grid capacity, and explore what it means for how we measure and verify DER performance.
What we’ll cover
The meeting is structured around three sessions. First, we’ll walk through the shift from energy efficiency to demand efficiency, including why kW matters more than kWh in an era of load growth and why demand-side resources need to be valued for their capacity contributions, not just their energy savings.
Second, we’ll dig into the methodology for measuring DER capacity. There’s an important distinction between physical capacity (what a device’s nameplate says it can do) and system capacity (what the grid can actually count on during peak hours). A 7 kW solar array may contribute less than 4 kW of system capacity. A 10 MW mixed DER portfolio might deliver only 5 to 6 MW at peak. Closing that measurement gap requires two different baseline approaches for two different types of resources, and it requires hourly data. We’ll walk through how this works.
Third, we’ll look at preliminary approaches to measuring capacity across resource types, from generation and storage to demand response to energy efficiency and electrification, and discuss the role of a system of record in enabling open demand-side energy markets where multiple buyers, including utilities, data centers, and corporate buyers, can transact verified DER capacity without double counting.
Open questions we need your input on
This meeting is also about surfacing questions the Alliance needs to work through together. Among them: Should summer and winter capacity be tracked separately? Should OpenEAC recommend specific ELCC values by resource type, or stay methodology-agnostic? How should we handle portfolio accreditation when interaction effects between resources matter? And should OpenEAC develop a standard DER Capacity Certificate specification?
Why you should join
If you work in M&V, DER program design, capacity planning, or energy market infrastructure, this conversation is directly relevant to your work. The industry is moving toward open demand-side energy markets, and the measurement standards we develop now will shape how those markets function. This is a chance to help define the methodology.
Meeting details
Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 8:00am PT. The meeting is open to all OpenEAC Alliance members and anyone interested in joining. Subscribe to the OpenEAC Alliance Meeting Calendar to stay up to date, and join via Google Meet.
Visit openeac.org for more information about the Alliance.