The Grid Sandbox is an online innovation sandboxing platform for utilities to radically accelerate and scale solutions for a clean, reliable and affordable electricity grid. Volta Research partnered with ENMAX Power to design and develop a demonstration platform for a limited and small customer pilot. Utilities are increasingly concerned with growth in grid-connected Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) due to power supply decarbonization. Utilities must innovate power delivery, value-optimize DER assets and deliver desirable programs and rate designs to customers. The Grid Sandbox provides utilities a safe, online environment to design, test and scale-up programs with their customers and innovate with lower financial risk while quickly engaging customers and accounting for human behaviour and preference.

Customers want to understand their bills, compare energy use, find opportunities to use various DERs and see their impacts and learn about utility programs and services to assist with DER investments. The Grid Sandbox lets customers understand their energy use, carbon impact and utility bill by breaking out their electricity use categories in an easy-to-use dashboard. They can also virtually test DERs and understand their impact by adding them to their homes and simulating an energy bill while assessing DER utility offers. The online platform lets customers engage with them on their energy use and discover options for energy savings and ways to pay for and utilize DERs. Through this project, ENMAX can easily access customers’ load profiles and quickly design and implement virtual DER program offerings and electric rates that would previously be impossible (or require lengthy approvals). Meanwhile, the dashboard provides customers immediate access to their energy use, carbon footprint and virtual bill. The pilot is ongoing, and additional features will be added next year.