Stop managing DERs with static rules. Optimize them.
IDROP is a patented distribution resource optimization engine that coordinates controllable loads, batteries, EV chargers, and demand response in real time — finding the least-cost dispatch at each interval while respecting every network constraint. It’s not a DERMS. It’s the optimization intelligence that tells your DERMS exactly what to dispatch, when, and by how much.
Illustrative feeder load profile — staggered IDROP dispatch vs. simultaneous cycling across 50 devices
You have the resources. The problem is orchestrating them.
Most utilities now have significant controllable assets on the distribution grid — demand response enrollments, battery storage, smart EV charging, distributed solar. The problem isn’t the resources. It’s that static dispatch rules don’t coordinate them as a system.
Static cycling rules treat every enrolled customer the same way at the same time — creating simultaneous rebound effects that produce new peaks rather than eliminating them. Threshold-triggered dispatch misses opportunities before the threshold is hit and overshoots after. Manual controls can’t react fast enough or at sufficient granularity to capture the full value of flexible resources.
The result: utilities with substantial DER portfolios still build infrastructure they could defer, still experience peak events that enrolled resources could have prevented, and still leave grid value on the table every day. IDROP closes that gap by replacing rules with optimization — computing the mathematically best dispatch at each interval across all available resources simultaneously.
“Load choreography” — not load control
IDROP’s approach has been described as load choreography: rather than cycling thermostats uniformly across all enrolled customers at once, IDROP staggers dispatch across groups — scheduling each group’s natural duty cycle so that aggregate feeder load stays nearly constant rather than spiking. No individual customer sees a long off-period. No rebound effect creates a new peak after the event ends.
This approach has produced feeder peak reductions of 30% or more with no measured loss of customer comfort — customers often don’t notice the control at all. That outcome is not achievable with uniform cycling. It requires an optimization engine that knows the thermal state of each participating home and staggers dispatch accordingly.
Constraint-optimized dispatch at distribution scale
IDROP solves a feeder-level optimal dispatch problem at each control interval. The inputs are real-time grid conditions and resource availability; the outputs are specific setpoints for each controllable asset — delivered via API to your existing ADMS or DERMS.
IDROP system architecture — inputs from LoadSEER, SCADA, program rules, and DER inventory; outputs to DERMS, ADMS, and direct API
Real-time optimization engine
At each interval — as short as a few minutes — IDROP ingests current feeder load, available DER capacity, and network constraints, then solves for the least-cost combination of control actions that meets load requirements without violating any equipment ratings or voltage limits. No static rules. No heuristics. Pure optimization.
Flexible objective functions
IDROP’s objective can be configured for the operational goal: minimize cost to serve load, minimize carbon emissions, maximize renewable utilization, minimize peak demand, or a weighted combination. A utility operating under a clean energy mandate can instruct IDROP to prioritize solar and storage dispatch over grid draw — trading a marginal cost increase for a significant emissions reduction.
Full network constraint handling
IDROP enforces feeder capacity limits, transformer ratings, voltage band requirements, and customer-specific constraints simultaneously — such as maximum cycling frequency and comfort temperature bands. It won’t dispatch a configuration that overloads a line or causes customer discomfort, and it won’t under-dispatch when more relief is available within constraints.
Day-ahead and real-time modes
IDROP can operate in day-ahead scheduling mode — using load forecasts to pre-position resources before a peak arrives — as well as real-time dispatch mode. Day-ahead mode lets IDROP stage EV charging and battery pre-charging earlier in the day to maximize flexibility when the peak hits, rather than reacting after it has already begun.
API integration with ADMS and DERMS
IDROP is an optimization layer, not a replacement for existing control infrastructure. It feeds optimized setpoints to your ADMS, DERMS, or demand response management platform via API — working alongside the control systems already deployed. Integration has been demonstrated with multiple third-party ADMS and DERMS platforms in production deployments.
Multi-resource coordination
IDROP dispatches all controllable resources in a unified optimization: thermostat DR, battery storage, EV charging, distributed solar inverters, commercial demand response, and VPP aggregations. Each resource type has its own cost, availability profile, and constraints — IDROP finds the least-cost mix across all of them simultaneously at each interval.
Double DER hosting capacity without building more infrastructure
The traditional response to voltage rise and backfeed problems from high DER penetration is infrastructure investment — voltage regulators, line upgrades, substation modifications. Active optimization with IDROP offers an alternative: managing the same grid problems dynamically, doubling the DER a circuit can host without the infrastructure spend.
As distributed solar, batteries, and EVs continue to proliferate, utilities that can increase hosting capacity through optimization rather than capital will have a structural advantage in serving customers and meeting renewable mandates — without proportional increases in infrastructure cost.
How utilities use IDROP
Peak demand management
Coordinate enrolled demand response, battery storage, and smart loads to flatten distribution feeder peaks — deferring or eliminating infrastructure upgrades that would otherwise be triggered by peak load growth.
DER hosting capacity expansion
Manage voltage rise, reverse power flow, and line overloads caused by high distributed solar penetration through active optimization — increasing the DER a circuit can host without equipment upgrades.
Virtual power plant operations
Aggregate distributed residential and commercial resources into a coordinated VPP that delivers reliable capacity reductions on demand — backed by an optimization engine that tracks the state of every enrolled resource at each interval.
EV charging load management
Coordinate smart EV charging across a feeder or service territory — shifting charging to off-peak periods, pre-charging during renewable surplus, and preventing simultaneous charging events that could overload distribution equipment.
Non-wires alternative execution
Operationalize the DER portfolios that DSMore identifies as cost-effective non-wires alternatives — ensuring that planned load relief actually materializes when distribution constraints approach, with the reliability that regulators require.
Carbon and renewable optimization
Configure IDROP to minimize carbon emissions alongside cost — prioritizing renewable dispatch and shifting controllable loads to periods of high solar and wind availability to reduce reliance on peaker generation.
IDROP completes the plan-value-execute loop
IDROP is the operational layer of Integral Analytics’ three-product suite. LoadSEER identifies where grid constraints will emerge. DSMore quantifies which demand-side solutions are cost-effective at each location. IDROP executes those solutions in real time — and feeds dispatch results back into future planning.
The IA analytics suite — LoadSEER, DSMore, and IDROP as a connected plan-value-execute cycle
LoadSEER → IDROP: anticipate before you react
IDROP uses LoadSEER’s day-ahead and seasonal load forecasts to pre-position resources before constraints materialize — pre-charging batteries, staging EV charging shifts, and preparing demand response ahead of a forecasted peak rather than reacting after it arrives. This improves the effectiveness of controlled assets compared to threshold-triggered dispatch.
DSMore → IDROP: value the plan, then execute it
DSMore identifies the optimal DER portfolio for each constrained area and calculates its value assuming optimal dispatch. IDROP delivers that dispatch — ensuring the program performance DSMore’s analysis assumed actually materializes in operations. Without optimal dispatch, the value DSMore calculates may not be achievable in practice; with IDROP, the two analyses are consistent end to end.
Frequently asked questions
What is IDROP and how does it work?
IDROP is Integral Analytics’ patented software engine for optimizing the real-time dispatch of distributed energy resources and controllable loads on the distribution grid (Patent US20110231028A1). At each control interval, IDROP takes current feeder conditions, available DER capacity, and network constraints as inputs, then computes the mathematically least-cost combination of control actions that meets demand while respecting all equipment ratings and voltage limits. It delivers optimized setpoints to existing ADMS and DERMS platforms via API rather than replacing control infrastructure already in place.
How does IDROP differ from a traditional DERMS?
Most DERMS platforms focus on monitoring and executing dispatch signals using static rules or simple heuristics to decide what to dispatch. IDROP is an optimization engine: it solves the dispatch problem mathematically at each interval, finding the least-cost combination across all available resources simultaneously while enforcing all network constraints. IDROP is designed to complement existing ADMS and DERMS — providing the optimization intelligence layer that feeds those systems with setpoints, rather than replacing the control infrastructure they provide.
What resources can IDROP dispatch?
IDROP can optimize any controllable resource that can receive a setpoint signal: thermostat-controlled HVAC loads, smart water heaters, battery energy storage, EV charging stations, commercial and industrial demand response, distributed solar inverters, and VPP aggregations. All resource types are handled in a single unified optimization — IDROP finds the least-cost combination across all enrolled assets at each interval rather than managing each resource type in isolation.
Can IDROP integrate with our existing ADMS or DERMS?
Yes. IDROP is designed as an optimization layer that integrates with existing control infrastructure via API. It feeds optimized setpoints to the control system, which implements them through its existing device communication channels. Integration has been demonstrated with multiple third-party ADMS and DERMS platforms in production utility deployments across North America.
What objective functions does IDROP support?
IDROP supports configurable objective functions including: minimize cost to serve load, minimize carbon emissions, maximize renewable utilization, minimize peak demand, and weighted combinations of multiple objectives. This flexibility allows utilities to align IDROP’s dispatch logic with their specific operational priorities — whether that is least-cost operations, clean energy goal compliance, or peak reduction for infrastructure deferral purposes.
See IDROP’s optimization in action
Schedule a demo and walk through a dispatch scenario for your service territory — real resources, real constraints, real grid conditions.
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