Voices from Rural Electric Cooperatives: A Call for a DER Integration Playbook for Rural and Agricultural Income & Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE)
- Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- TERENC, Bloomfield, IA (United States)
Rural-serving electric utilities (RSEUs)—including electric cooperatives, municipal systems, and small investor-owned utilities—are essential players in the evolving energy landscape. These community-focused entities are increasingly being asked to consider distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop and ground-mounted solar, wind, battery storage, smart water heaters, and demand response programs (NRECA 2025; Lenhart et al. 2020). Yet the path to DER adoption is far from straightforward in the rural context. This report is based on in-depth interviews with managers of rural electric cooperatives across the United States. These conversations offer a grounded, unvarnished look at how DERs are perceived, what barriers exist, and what conditions might enable integration and adoption. While the utilities interviewed vary in geography, size, and DER experience, several clear and common themes emerged across electric cooperatives such that the report recommends the development of a DER Integration Runbook to help utilities assess readiness, define local use cases, engage stakeholders, pilot projects, and iterate, expanding over time.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Wind Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC07-05ID14517
- OSTI ID:
- 2589769
- Report Number(s):
- INL/RPT--25-84640-Rev..000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Coupled social and infrastructure approaches for enhancing solar energy adoption. Final Report
Catalogue of rural electric-utility and small-hydropower training programs