Distributed energy resources (DERs) include a wide range of smaller, connected or flexible resources: generation, batteries, flexible load, demand response, efficiency, electric vehicles, and charging equipment. Because definitions differ, the statistics below keep each population, geography, period, and measurement type visible rather than combining unlike capacity totals.
Key Distributed Energy Resource Statistics
The most useful headline figures span installed resources, modeled potential, participation, and measured grid outcomes:
- In a 2022 U.S. Department of Energy briefing, U.S. DER deployment was estimated at approximately 90 GW.
- The same DOE briefing forecast approximately 380 GW of U.S. DER deployment by 2025, based on a Wood Mackenzie estimate.
- More than 3 million PV arrays were estimated to be installed on U.S. homes in the 2022 briefing.
- In California, more than 50% of new residential PV installations were paired with batteries in April 2024, according to preliminary EIA estimates.
- California added more than 40,000 solar-plus-battery installations between October 2023 and April 2024, representing 232 MW of battery capacity.
- About 99.5% of California small-scale residential installed capacity was net metered in the 2024 EIA article context.
- The cumulative U.S. distributed-wind fleet reached 1,110 MW and exceeded 92,000 turbines from 2003 through 2023.
- A DOE-supported 2022 study estimated nearly 1,400 GW of economically viable and profitable U.S. distributed-wind potential under modeled conditions.
- Wholesale demand-response participation across seven U.S. RTOs and ISOs increased by about 217 MW, or 0.7%, from 2023 to 2024.
- Demand response could meet approximately 6.5% of wholesale-market non-coincident peak demand in 2024 across those seven RTOs and ISOs.
- DOE’s VPP pathway targets 80–160 GW of U.S. virtual power plants by 2030.
- DOE estimates that target VPP scale could save about $10 billion per year in U.S. grid costs.
- CAISO curtailed 3.4 million MWh of utility-scale wind and solar output in 2024.
- Solar represented 93% of CAISO’s curtailed energy in 2024.
- By 2024, distributed PV represented 40% of China’s total solar capacity, up from 30% four years earlier.
- The IEA’s 2019 main-case forecast projected global distributed solar PV capacity to reach 530 GW by 2024.
Contents
- DER scale and technology mix
- Distributed solar and battery storage trends
- Distributed wind statistics and potential
- DER market participation and demand response
- Virtual power plant and grid-service data
- Integration, curtailment, and emissions outcomes
Distributed Energy Resource Scale and Technology-Mix Statistics
DER is a category rather than a single universally bounded asset class. The DOE’s cybersecurity briefing used a broad Wood Mackenzie definition, while EIA’s net-metering data uses narrower technology categories.
According to the Distributed Energy Resources Cybersecurity Report and Threat Briefing, U.S. DER deployment was estimated at approximately 90 GW in the 2022 briefing and forecast at approximately 380 GW by 2025. The latter is a forecast, not an observed 2025 total.
The same briefing estimated more than 3 million PV arrays installed on U.S. homes. That array count is not equivalent to DER aggregations, enrolled customers, or the broad deployment estimate.
EIA’s Form EIA-861M detailed data identifies net-metering technology categories including standard PV, virtual PV below 1 MW, virtual PV at least 1 MW, wind, and other technologies. These are survey definitions and are not mutually exhaustive of every DER type, including flexible load, efficiency, EVs, or all storage resources.
| Measure | Population and period | Figure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| DER deployment | United States, 2022 briefing | 90 GW | Estimate |
| DER deployment | United States, 2025 | 380 GW | Forecast |
| Home PV arrays | United States, 2022 briefing | More than 3 million | Estimate |
Distributed Solar and Battery Storage Adoption Trends
California’s preliminary monthly data shows rapid growth in pairing batteries with new residential PV, while the installed fleet still contains a much larger base of solar capacity without the same pairing rate.
The EIA analysis of California solar and battery installations estimated that just over 20% of new residential PV installations were paired with batteries in October 2023, rising to more than 50% in April 2024. EIA labels the October 2023–April 2024 monthly data preliminary estimates.
More than 40,000 solar-plus-battery installations were added between October 2023 and April 2024, representing 232 MW of new battery-storage capacity. In the April 2024 report, solar-plus-battery installations represented about 9% of California’s installed residential net-metering capacity.
- California residential net-metering solar capacity increased 22% in Q3 2023 compared with Q3 2022, in EIA’s estimated preliminary series.
- California had more than 12,000 MW of residential net-metered solar capacity in systems smaller than 1 MW in the 2024 article context.
- About 99.5% of California small-scale residential installed capacity was net metered, where small-scale means less than 1 MW in the source.
These figures describe California residential net-metering and solar-plus-battery series, not all distributed resources. They should also be kept separate from EIA’s utility-scale capacity plans.
The EIA report on planned U.S. electric-generating capacity said developers planned 62.8 GW of new utility-scale capacity in 2024, with solar expected to account for 58% and battery storage 23%. Scheduled utility-scale solar additions totaled 36.4 GW, while developers planned 14.3 GW of battery-storage additions on an existing 15.5 GW base.
| California residential measure | Period | Figure | Measurement type |
|---|---|---|---|
| New PV paired with batteries | October 2023 | Just over 20% | Preliminary estimate |
| New PV paired with batteries | April 2024 | More than 50% | Preliminary estimate |
| Solar-plus-battery additions | October 2023–April 2024 | More than 40,000 installations; 232 MW battery capacity | Preliminary estimate |
| Installed residential net-metering capacity from solar-plus-battery systems | April 2024 report | About 9% | Estimate |
The same EIA source reported that the United States added 6.4 GW of utility-scale battery-storage capacity in 2023, a 70% increase from 2022. Texas and California were expected to account for 82% of new U.S. battery-storage capacity planned for 2024; this was based on developer-reported scheduled capacity.
Distributed Wind Statistics and Deployment Potential
Distributed wind statistics illustrate why installed capacity and modeled opportunity must not be treated as interchangeable. The Distributed Wind Market Report: 2024 Edition reported a cumulative U.S. distributed-wind fleet of 1,110 MW and more than 92,000 turbines installed from 2003 through 2023.
The report’s market definition covers its distributed-wind project population and all project sizes in the report. It is therefore a defined market series, not a complete measure of every small generator connected to a distribution system.
The USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program set aside more than $303 million for underutilized renewable technologies and technical assistance in the 2024 program context. That allocation is broader than distributed-wind spending alone.
A separate DOE article, Unlocking Distributed Wind Energy’s Potential, described a 2022 study estimating nearly 1,400 GW of economically viable and profitable distributed-wind capacity could be deployed in the United States under modeled conditions. This is economic potential, not installed capacity.
- Extending current tax credits and policies could increase modeled behind-the-meter distributed-wind potential by more than 80% in the 2022–2035 scenario.
- The same policy scenario could increase modeled front-of-meter distributed-wind potential by almost 800% in the 2022–2035 scenario.
In the source, front-of-meter distributed wind means distribution-grid-connected wholesale supply. Both percentage figures are scenario results contingent on policy extension and study assumptions.
DER Market Participation and Demand Response Statistics
Demand response is one route through which distributed flexibility participates in organized wholesale markets, but participation capacity is not identical to total DER deployment or energy actually delivered.
FERC’s 2025 Assessment of Demand Response and Advanced Metering reported that wholesale demand-response participation across seven U.S. RTOs and ISOs increased by about 217 MW, or 0.7%, from 2023 to 2024. The summed non-coincident peak demand across those markets was approximately 515 GW in 2024, and reported demand response could meet approximately 6.5% of that peak-demand measure.
| Market or measure | 2023 | 2024 | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAISO demand-response capacity | 4,154 MW | 4,373 MW | Registered/participating capacity |
| CAISO third-party average participation | 210 MW | 188 MW | Average participation |
| CAISO utility-program average participation | 1,175 MW | 986 MW | Average participation |
| ERCOT demand-response participation | 3,613 MW | 4,099 MW | Rounded participation |
FERC reported approximately 431 MW of Active Demand Capacity Resources enrolled in ISO New England in July 2024, the month of that market’s highest 2024 peak demand. That enrollment was 25 MW, or 5.5%, below the 456 MW reported for September 2023, although the comparison uses each year’s peak-demand month rather than identical months.
The seven-market demand-response figures are participation estimates. They indicate available or enrolled capability, not necessarily delivered energy during every peak period.
Virtual Power Plant and Grid-Service Statistics
Virtual power plants aggregate distributed resources so they can provide coordinated grid services. DOE’s Virtual Power Plants Projects page says the United States needs approximately 200 GW of additional resources to serve peak demand by 2030, while its pathway targets 80–160 GW of VPPs by that year.
DOE’s Sector Spotlight: Virtual Power Plants estimates that 80–160 GW of VPPs could save about $10 billion per year in grid costs and address roughly 10%–20% of peak load in a 2030 scenario. These are modeled outcomes dependent on deployment and market assumptions.
- A DOE-cited study estimates that VPPs could avoid 44–59 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year by 2050 in the United States.
- DOE cites an estimate that VPPs could avoid $17 billion in annual power-sector expenditure by 2030, concerning avoided generation and infrastructure expenditure.
- Project Hestia was estimated to avoid 7.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over its project lifetime.
- Project IceBrick’s full-scale plan could provide approximately 170 MW and 450 MWh of behind-the-meter thermal storage in California commercial buildings.
- Project Polo proposed up to 1,000 PV-and-BESS systems across up to 27 states in 2024.
- Project Polo’s estimated aggregate capacity was 168 MW of PV plus 16.8 MW/33.6 MWh of BESS across up to 27 U.S. states.
The project values are proposals or conditional potential, not operating capacity. Thermal storage in Project IceBrick is not battery capacity, and “up to” values in Project Polo are maximums in the proposal.
DER Integration, Curtailment, and Emissions Outcomes
Integration outcomes show that growth in distributed and flexible resources does not eliminate the need for grid coordination. CAISO’s measured curtailment data concerns utility-scale wind and solar, so it should not be presented as behind-the-meter DER curtailment.
According to EIA’s analysis of California solar and wind curtailments, CAISO curtailed 3.4 million MWh of utility-scale wind and solar output in 2024, 29% more than in 2023. Solar represented 93% of curtailed energy in 2024.
CAISO battery capacity increased 45%, from 8.0 GW in 2023 to 11.6 GW in 2024, in EIA’s survey of recent and planned capacity changes. The batteries can shift stored renewable energy approximately 4–8 hours later in the day, but that range is an operational description rather than a fleet-average measurement.
China provides another scale and integration context. The IEA’s Integrating Distributed Energy Resources in China: Executive summary reported that distributed PV represented 40% of China’s total solar capacity in 2024, up from 30% four years earlier; China’s electric-car stock grew by more than 650% over the same period, and congestion and connection restrictions related to distributed PV were reported in 11 provinces in 2024.
The electric-car figure is DER-adjacent flexible-load context, not a count of enrolled DERs. The provincial figure counts reported restrictions, not all constrained feeders nationwide.
Finally, the IEA’s Distributed Solar PV – Renewables 2019 main-case forecast projected global distributed solar PV capacity to reach 530 GW by 2024 and increase by more than 250% over its 2018–2024 forecast period. It also forecast distributed applications to account for 45% of total solar-PV capacity growth through 2024, up from 36% in the prior six-year period; these figures are forecasts issued in 2019, not observed 2024 totals.
| Integration or outcome measure | Geography and period | Figure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility-scale wind and solar curtailment | CAISO, 2024 | 3.4 million MWh | Observed |
| Solar share of curtailed energy | CAISO, 2024 | 93% | Observed |
| Distributed PV share of total solar capacity | China, 2024 | 40% | Observed |
| Distributed solar PV capacity | Global, 2024 target | 530 GW | 2019 forecast |
| Distributed applications’ share of solar-PV growth | Global, through 2024 | 45% | 2019 forecast |