From ISO to DSO: Changing Utility Business Model

The utility business model is changing due to declining revenues resulting from increasing penetration of distributed customer-side resources such as rooftop solar, energy conservation, as well as Demand Response (DR). Utilities need to offer new services to fill in the revenue gap. Moreover, the emphasis on customer choice, emergence of Curtailment Service Providers, and un-coordinated operation of customer-side distributed resources give rise to new operational problems for system operators.

A new Distribution System Operator (DSO) Construct is proposed to take on the responsibility for balancing supply and demand variations at the distribution level and linking the wholesale and retail market agents, while maintaining the traditional role of the operator as a custodian for distribution system reliability.

Click here to read the OATI DSO paper in its entirety, and see for yourself how OATI is providing a venue to address industry challenges and paving the way for fully connected end-to-end power system operations that utilize the latest in Smart Grid technologies.

For more information on the DSO construct and the OATI suite of Smart Energy solutions, contact sales@oati.net.