Adrian Larsen, CEO and founder of NeoWatt, joins Smartcar for an Ask Me Anything (AMA)-style discussion on how software is reshaping our demand flexibility system. This conversation shines a light on both European and North American perspectives when tackling energy markets, policies, and programs.
Today, energy retailers and grid operators lean on a range of strategies and technology partners to help them balance energy supply and demand, reduce costs, and improve the overall reliability of power distribution systems. With data-driven insights from connected devices, we’re more prepared than ever to integrate electric vehicles and other smart devices into the grid.
During our conversation, we explored strategies for balancing supply and demand, the potential of real-time data, and how these advancements are creating a win-win for energy providers and consumers alike. If you missed it, don’t worry—you can catch the full replay here.
For now, let me share some of the key takeaways we discussed.
Implicit vs explicit flexibility: What’s more profitable?
Demand flexibility can encompass two key approaches: implicit and explicit. Both are clever ways to balance the grid, but they also offer unique ways for energy providers to boost profits. Let’s break it down.
Implicit flexibility is about using existing market signals to save consumers money. Think variable rate plans and electricity spot prices. Households with EVs and smart devices can see energy savings of 20 to 40% just by adjusting their consumption habits to match these cheaper rates.
Explicit flexibility, on the other hand, involves direct participation in grid services. Consumers are incentivized to actively adjust their energy consumption based on grid needs instead of just opting for lower rates. An energy provider, for instance, will pay consumers to reduce their energy consumption if a local grid has more EVs connected to it than it can actually support.
Explicit flexibility, on the other hand, is about active participation. Picture this: your local grid is bottlenecked because they have more EVs in their service territory than they can handle. Instead of creating panic with rolling blackouts and hiked-up prices, energy providers step in to pay consumers to delay or reduce charging.
In short, both strategies aren’t just about keeping the lights on—they’re about making the system smarter and more profitable. When energy providers facilitate implicit and explicit flexibility, they can charge a premium fee for enabling these services and creates opportunities for them to share the financial rewards as part of their service agreements.
In the energy and utility space, and with operating retailers, they’re looking to increase their revenue — preferably their profits. One of the things you can do when you have access to real-time data is plan ahead, supply customers with the right prices, and make better trading strategies to become more profitable.
— Adrian Larsen, CEO and founder at NeoWatt
Real-time data for optimising tariffs and trades
Tariff optimisation is a hot topic for a reason. For consumers, it means cutting energy costs, and for energy providers, it’s about keeping customers happy while increasing profits where possible. Increased granularity in energy pricing unlocks more precision when managing energy consumption.
But without automation and seamless communication with device owners, granularity becomes a big beast to tackle.
That’s where real-time data comes into play. It gives energy providers the insights they need to forecast energy consumption more precisely, reduce imbalances, and even unlock new income streams for consumers. NeoWatt takes this further by simplifying the process. Their platform helps utilities and retailers manage distributed energy resources without the need for additional hardware, unlocking hidden energy loads in homes and businesses.
NeoWatt aims to expand the demand flexibility engine to optimise for potential income streams too, empowers consumers with more incentives to sustain zero-emission practices at home.
Seamless consumer experiences lead to action
“By the year 2030, there’s a need of $3 trillion of investment to maintain our existing grid requirement — which is an insane amount of money,” says Larsen. “I’d say from both the grid and system operator level, and then the utility level, they really do rely on the services that partners like Smartcar offer to facilitate this two-way dialogue [with EVs].”
What gets more people to participate in demand response programs? The answer is simple: make it easy and make it worth their while.
More EV owners today participate in demand response and smart charging programs because their automakers, vehicle apps, and energy providers are putting their user experience first.
Take EV charging, for example. Some EV owners can now configure native charging schedules directly from their vehicle dashboard. This functionality makes it easy drivers to sync their car’s charging times with grid signals from their utility or energy provider. It’s another example of how powerful vehicle integrations can be in redefining the relationship between EV drivers and energy providers.
“These types of experiences are creating, an environment where consumers are becoming more and more comfortable participating in these programs as they have transparency, visibility and really no negative impact [to participating in these programs] — in fact, they benefit from potential incentives or discounts,” says Sahas Katta, CEO at Smartcar.
What’s next?
During the webinar, Adrian, Sahas, and I dug into so much more: from monetising flexibility models to using EV data to reshape the energy market. It’s clear that demand flexibility isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a game-changer for the energy ecosystem.
Want to hear the full discussion? Watch the replay here. You’ll get insights on balancing supply and demand, cutting costs for EV drivers, and streamlining operations with Smartcar. Or, if you’re ready to see what Smartcar can do for you, book a demo today.
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