2027 Event Agenda

Starting in 2022, Evergy initiated a Residential Battery Energy Storage (RBES) Pilot through its Missouri rate case to evaluate both customer savings and distribution system benefits of behind-the-meter energy storage. The program began with ~50 battery systems (around 15 kWh each) and expanded to more than 150 installations across Missouri and Kansas. In this session, Evergy will share the framework, lessons learned, and outcomes from this program. 

A central finding of the pilot was that integration - not hardware - drove the majority of complexity, risk, and value realization. Evergy will share how this small pilot made broad, enterprise-level integration impacts, from the design and implementation of multiple integrations, including DNP3/PLTE SCADA, EV charger APIs, thermostat platforms, Demand Response (DRMS), and DERMS. Building pilot integrations, Evergy learned critical lessons about different communication protocols, data requirements, vendor software limitations, and interoperability challenges across distributed systems. 

By integrating with smart devices with thermostats and EV Chargers, Evergy gained comprehensive insight into total residential load behavior and the impact of demand response events. By integrating with Evergy’s DERMS, the operator gained real-time insights into over 100 DERs and the opportunity to easily dispatch assets. Integrating with Evergy’s SCADA via DNP3 allowed Evergy to perform continuous monitoring, visibility, and situational awareness of these behind the meter energy storage assets on the distribution network and connect it to the ADMS to influence decision making for advanced operations. The RBES pilot demonstrated even small-scale deployments can drive enterprise-level integration impacts and highlighted the importance of integration strategy in unlocking the full value of distributed energy resources.