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Bringing DERMS research to local utility

September 26, 2025

Mackenzie Martin, an undergraduate intern with the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, spent the summer working with their mentor Phylicia Cicilio, who is currently with the and formerly with ACEP, to research and evaluate distributed energy resource management systems, or DERMS.

Distributed energy generation is the generation of electricity at or near its users’ location, such as a rooftop, rather than a centralized power plant.

DERMS are software systems that allow utilities to control distributed energy generation, certain types of end-use devices — electric water heaters or heat pumps — and energy storage on the distribution network. The ability to control these types of devices provides more tools in the tool chest to utilities to more efficiently operate the system.

At other utilities, use of DERMS has lowered costs, increased reliability and allowed for the use of additional variable renewable energy generation.

Martin conducted interviews with GVEA staff to understand the goals and constraints of DERMS at GVEA, connected with utilities nationwide to learn about active DERMS programs, researched the market and the wide variety of systems under the DERMS umbrella and conducted statistical analyses to understand the economic benefit that DERMS could potentially offer GVEA and its members.

The final product of Martin’s work is a guidebook that GVEA staff can use to easily evaluate proposals and other information from DERMS vendors.

Decision-making at a member-owned electric cooperative is a complex process. Everyone wants to make the best choice for members, but it can be difficult to understand exactly what the impact of integrating new technologies, such as DERMS, will be.

Martin’s research provides GVEA with the resources to quickly understand the potential impact of any proposed DERMS program, providing clarity into how both operations and the membership may be impacted before a significant investment of time or resources.

This project introduced Martin, a senior computer-science major at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., to both the natural wonders of Alaska and the technical wonders of the power grid.

“This experience has taught me so much about the electric grid and how it’s changing with the increase in renewable energy resources,” they said. “I’ve loved the opportunity to utilize my academic interests in user experience research and data analysis to actually do something meaningful.”

“I’m excited to be helping GVEA explore new technologies and make the best choices for their members,” they said.

This internship was funded by the program, an initiative supported by the Office of Naval Research, through the ACEP Undergraduate Summer Internship program. View the on ACEP’s YouTube channel. For more information on this project, contact Phylicia Cicilio at pcicilio@alaska.edu.