For years, demand-side programs like energy efficiency and demand response were treated as compliance, not real resources. 

Now, that’s changing.

As electricity demand surges, utilities are facing a new reality: they can’t build infrastructure fast enough or affordably enough. So they’re starting to look in a different place for capacity: inside homes and businesses.

In this episode, Stephen Lacey speaks with Hannah Bascom, chief growth officer at Uplight, about the rise of the “demand stack” — a framework for combining efficiency, dynamic pricing, and demand response into a coordinated resource for the grid.

They also explore a new case study from Evergy, developed with the Brattle Group, which shows how integrating demand-side strategies can significantly expand peak reduction through better enrollment, forecasting, and customer engagement.

Hannah traces how the industry evolved from compliance-driven efficiency programs to a world where distributed energy resources can deliver real, planning-grade capacity. And she explains why utilities are starting to take these resources more seriously as pressure on the grid intensifies.

Learn more about how Uplight helps utilities unlock flexibility from distributed energy resources.