Like a lot of specialized areas, electric utilities sometimes seem to speak their own language.

You might hear an old term used in a new way, like having “electrification” mean switching from a gas-powered car to an electric vehicle, or changing out gas heaters and cooking appliances with electric equipment. Or you might encounter a new term altogether, like building energy benchmarking, a useful tool for many businesses in evaluating how much energy their buildings use and where potential savings may lie.

These days, one new term you may start to hear a lot is “distributed energy resources” or DER. So what the heck’s a DER and why should you care?

Put simply, DER refers to a variety of small-scale energy resources that connect to the electric grid in our own community.  They’re typically electric devices connected directly to your home. And as an electric customer, DERs matter because they represent opportunities for you.

DERS can include the solar panels on your roof, generating energy for your home and reducing your overall utility bill.

A DER could also be the electric vehicle in your garage, storing energy in its battery when it’s not out on the streets helping you enjoy a carbon-free drive. (Side note: if you are an EV driver or aspire to be one, we still have a great rebate going for level 2 residential electric vehicle chargers … check it out!)

DERs can even be items like smart thermostats and water heaters that can reduce their energy use in periods of high electric demand, responding to signals to change temperature by a few degrees. When many of these devices work together on the grid, it means we keep our overall electric demand lower and our collective costs as well.

That’s a lot of simple things wrapped up in a non-simple term. And most of the time in this blog, we’ll call a thermostat a thermostat. But now, whenever the term DER pops up – in the news, at a Council meeting or anywhere else – you’ll know that it’s stuff used by you, or people like you, that can help you be more efficient and our power more reliable.

You might even call that a DER-ect benefit.