 Hi, my name is Tim Yesko and I'm a PhD student in the Atmospheric Energy Program at Stanford University. My research is on optimizing portfolios of distributed energy resources to tackle hotspots on the Electric Distribution Network. So what is a hotspot? Probably it's a region of the grid where distributed energy resources can provide value by alleviating in upstream grid operations or infrastructure problems. There's many examples of these. It could be a region of the grid where a substation is running over capacity for much of the year or distribution line that's overly congested with growing demand downstream. Or a region of the grid that's experiencing the issues associated with the high penetration of solar energy, such as backfeeding up the grid or the need to account for the steep ramps associated with the duck herd. Adding in the fact that our infrastructure is aging and population growing, it's estimated that utilities will need to spend upwards of $600 billion on distribution network infrastructure over the next 20 years alone. What if instead we could delay or eliminate the need for this infrastructure investment by using distributed energy? What I've done is built a model that optimizes portfolios of distributed energy resources to solve one or a combination of these issues that real utilities are having to deal with today. The model optimizes over four general categories of distributed energy resources. The first being distributed solar. Where should we put it? What orientation is best to maximize the total value, not just the total energy production? Energy efficiency. What programs are best suited to reduce both energy and peak power demand? Demand response. How is the world of demand response changing with these new residential programs and dispatchable loads? And perhaps the most versatile of all the distributed energy resources? Energy storage. How do we leverage behind-the-meter storage to provide value for both the customer and the utility? So the next time your utility is wondering what to do about their distribution issues, think DER distributed energy resources. I'll see you back on the slopes.