EEI 2026 Highlights: Delivering Value for Customers and Grid Planning

I'm next joined here in the hub by Mary Spray-Reagan, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Market Development at Oracle.

Thanks so much for being back to chat with us.

It's great to be here.

Thanks.

So how do programs like Demand Response help empower customers to be active participants in their energy usage? Because of course, affordability and finding ways to save customers money has been a big topic this week.

That's a great question.

And I think that Giving everyday people the opportunity to be grid participants is more important than ever, to your point about affordability and engagement.

And engaging consumers isn't just about, let's say, the EV owner.

Most demand flexibility programs can leave behind those who can't or don't want to buy a new device or enroll in an automated program.

And we can't afford to leave these savings untapped and should instead be looking to enable these customers to be energy partners in creating demand flexibility.

And one of the easiest ways to achieve that is to run utility behavioral demand response programs that are auto-enrolled.

People are automatically brought into the program And during moments of peak demand on the grid, they receive personalized customer coaching on reducing or shifting their usage.

And what we have seen is these behavioral demand response programs have repeatedly shown meaningful demand reductions.

And I'll give you an example.

One from Baltimore Gas and Electric.

And they had several events on hot summer days last summer.

And at one of these events, the utility shed about 150 megawatts from the BGE system during a peak event.

That is just by calling on their customers to shift or postpone their energy usage a little bit during those peak times.

And just to put that in perspective, It would take more than $500 million in battery storage to match that level of load reduction, just activating their customers.

And I think it's a great and powerful example of how everyday people can deliver real value.

You can do it quickly, you can do it affordably and at scale.