Uplight

Uplight is built for large utilities looking to weave customer behavior into grid operations — not as a siloed DERMS, but as a full customer engagement and load flexibility layer. Where it shines is personalizing every touchpoint: a customer gets a home energy report, then a Marketplace recommendation, then a rate coaching email, then a demand response event invitation, all sequenced by an AI engine that adapts over time. That unified journey is rare in the utility software space. When we’d reach for Uplight: you already have DERs and want to programmatically shift load while keeping customers happy and enrolled. It also works well if you’re rolling out time-of-use rates and need adoption lift. Where it bites: the price is enterprise-only, with no published tiers — you’ll need a sales conversation and a sizable budget. It’s not a fit for small co-ops or utilities that want a lightweight, open-source DERMS. And if you want hardware-level DER control without the customer engagement layer, platforms like AutoGrid or Siemens are more direct. In practice, Uplight’s real-world impact — 268 million customer touchpoints and 8.5 GW managed — shows it works at scale. But the platform’s breadth means a longer implementation and a tighter partnership with the vendor. It’s a system of record for customer energy programs, not a plug-and-play gadget.