Building a Grid that Serves the Customer of Tomorrow Developing a Foundation for Local DSO Markets Ontario’s energy transition is developing rapidly. Customers are adding Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), installing EV infrastructure, and exploring demand response options in numbers that would have been hard to predict a decade ago. For local distribution companies (LDCs), this shift is creating a fundamental challenge: how can LDCs manage a grid built for one-way power flow when energy is increasingly moving in every direction? With federal grant funding, Oshawa Power is working to develop a solution. In March, Oshawa Power received $400,000 through Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program to advance our Distribution System Operator (DSO) initiative, titled Empowering Energy Transition: A Distribution System Operator Enabled Demand Response Program. The funding supports the design and development of the processes and tools needed to operate a local DSO market, including a benefit-cost analysis for deploying DSO as a non-wires solution. This project goes deeper than traditional grid infrastructure planning. A local DSO market would equip LDCs like Oshawa Power with the tools to actively coordinate customer-owned DERs, including solar installations, battery storage systems, and EV chargers, and put them to work for the grid. Instead of simply accommodating the connection of these assets, utilities can integrate them into a managed system that delivers tangible benefits across our grid. From greater energy flexibility for businesses to the development of unique demand response programs for residential customers, local DSOs will improve grid stability across Ontario communities. With benefits of grid modernization efforts traditionally concentrated in areas with newer infrastructure, one of the project’s key priorities is to reach traditionally underserved customers. Oshawa Power is deliberately designing this program to address that gap, developing DSO use cases that target customers who have historically had fewer options and less visibility in energy transition conversations. To deliver this project, Oshawa Power will work alongside two key partners: GridS2, a leader in innovative energy transition solutions,
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(L-R) Bala Venkatesh, CTO, GridS2; Jordan Kokocinski, Data Solutions Analyst and Mike Weatherbee, Managing Director, Oshawa Power; Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resource Canada; Janet Taylor, Manager, Sustainability and Partnerships and Jackson Quang, Project Manager, Oshawa Power and Nimish Bhatnagar, CEO, GridS2.
and Cambium Indigenous Professional Services, which brings critical expertise in Indigenous advisory services. The partnership reflects a core belief that a resilient and equitable energy future must be built with, not just for, all members of the community. This project will build the foundation for Oshawa Power to operate a local DSO market when the regulatory and market conditions allow. What this project produces in the interim is equally valuable. Once complete, Oshawa Power will be equipped with rigorous analysis, documented processes, and innovative tools to move forward with confidence. For LDCs witnessing the acceleration of the energy transition across Ontario, the DSO model provides one potential solution to the challenges it presents. Customers pursuing resilient and sustainable solutions deserve a local utility that is ready to integrate and enable a better energy future. THE DISTRIBUTOR
SUMMER 2026