Who Really Controls Distributed Energy? The Unspoken Conflict in DERs

When it comes to distributed energy resources (DERs)—batteries, EVs, smart thermostats, and beyond—there’s an unspoken tension at play.

#For consumers, these are personal assets:

A car is for getting from point A to B, not a mobile grid resource.
A thermostat is for home comfort, not demand response.
A home battery is for resilience during blackouts, not for arbitraging energy markets.

#For energy companies, these are orchestrable assets:

EVs are dynamic storage that can stabilize the grid.
Smart thermostats are levers for load shifting.
Home batteries are dispatchable capacity to shave peaks.

These perspectives aren’t just different—they’re in direct conflict. And for too long, the energy industry has ignored this mismatch, hoping consumers would simply go along with being part of an orchestrated system.

But consumers aren’t just data points in an optimization model. They own these assets, and their experience—not just the potential to save money—is what will determine whether they participate.

And at the center of this entire problem? Data.

#History Repeats Itself: Tech’s Long Struggle Between Centralization and User Control

This isn’t the first time a new technology has created a control tug-of-war. In fact, nearly every major shift in infrastructure and connectivity has faced this challenge. The industries that adapted to user expectations thrived. The ones that didn’t? They lost their grip on the market.

#1. The Early Telephone System (1910s): Control vs. Autonomy

In the early days of the telephone, calls were manually connected by operators. Phone companies saw this as necessary control, but consumers just wanted to pick up and dial. Eventually, the industry shifted to direct dialing, which gave users autonomy while still keeping the network reliable.

#2. The Internet and Walled Gardens (1990s): Open Access Wins

AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy tried to keep users inside closed ecosystems, controlling what they could access. But users wanted freedom. The open web ultimately won, and companies that failed to adapt (like AOL) lost dominance.

#3. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in the Workplace (2010s): Balancing Security and Usability

Companies used to issue locked-down work phones and computers, restricting what employees could do. But as personal smartphones became ubiquitous, employees demanded to use their own devices. The corporate world had to adjust, finding ways to allow personal devices while maintaining security.

The pattern is clear: when industries fail to respect user expectations and experience, they either adapt or become irrelevant.

#The Missing Link: High-Frequency, Reliable Data

The real breakthrough that will unlock DER integration isn’t just better policies or incentives—it’s data availability at the right time and place. Right now, the energy industry is trying to orchestrate consumer-owned assets with incomplete, low-resolution, and delayed data. That’s like trying to navigate a city using a map that only updates once an hour.

For control, orchestration, and user experience to work together, we need high-frequency, reliable, and accessible data at the point of decision-making. That means:

Consumers need real-time visibility into how their assets interact with the grid, not just an end-of-month bill or delayed utility notifications.
Grid operators need a real-time picture of DERs, not just stale, once-a-day snapshots of load curves.
Third-party energy services need a standardized way to access and act on DER data without constant API customizations and delays.

This is where Texture comes in.

#How Texture Unlocks the Future of DER Control

At Texture, we believe energy data and control should work seamlessly across all parties—consumers, utilities, and third-party platforms. Right now, that’s not happening. Instead, we have:

Fragmented access: Customers, utilities, and vendors all have different (and often incomplete) views of the same DER data.
One-size-fits-all control models: Either the utility has full control (demand response programs) or none at all (opt-outs), with no middle ground for user-defined preferences.
Lack of interoperability: Different devices, vendors, and platforms don’t speak the same language, making automation clunky or impossible.
Low-resolution data: Many grid decisions are still based on 15-minute or hourly data when sub-second data is needed to make dynamic, user-friendly adjustments.

#Texture fixes this.

We harmonize data across all energy assets, ensuring that the right data reaches the right parties in real time.
We make control user-centric, allowing for granular permissions that respect consumer intent while enabling grid participation.
We create seamless interoperability, eliminating the silos that currently make DER orchestration frustrating.
We provide real-time, high-frequency data that enables truly dynamic control, rather than after-the-fact optimizations.

#Without a Seamless User Experience, DER Integration Will Stall

The energy transition depends on millions of consumer-owned assets working together. But that only happens if we solve the data problem and the user experience problem together.

The industries that figured out this balance—telecom, internet, enterprise IT—became the foundation of modern life. The ones that ignored the conflict? They were disrupted.

The question isn’t whether we need consumer-centric DER control. It’s whether the energy industry is ready to embrace it before customers simply route around them.

The choice is clear:
Build for experience first, deliver real-time data where decisions are made, and ensure seamless communication—or risk losing control entirely.