San Diego-based agtech energy specialist Yield Energy has launched a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) to unlock grid-ready energy flexibility from farms.

The Yield Edge DERMS can manage over 200 MW of agricultural load, including more than 100 MW enrolled in PG&E’s agriculture-specific Hourly Flex Pricing pilot. The technology orchestrates primarily irrigation pumps and is expanding to include other on-farm distributed energy resources (DERs).

According to a statement from Yield Energy, the company has validated its platform through state-supported work with nearly $3 million in funding from the California Energy Commission. This validation enables utilities to tap agricultural loads while ensuring growers benefit financially without changing their operations.

Yield Energy’s DERMS integrates with an ecosystem of AgTech partners, enabling pumps, sensors, and automation hardware to participate automatically in demand response and other grid programs.

Data from Yield Energy shows strong performance across California, including:

• 100% average demand response performance across enrolled devices
• 67% demonstrated load-shift potential during peak hours
• $20,000+ in annual revenue per grower, on average

“We have proven that on-farm operations can deliver reliable, grid-ready flexibility at scale,” said a Yield Energy spokesperson. “Our technology connects that flexibility to the operational demands of today’s grid, creating new revenue for growers while delivering capacity that is faster, cleaner, and more affordable than new infrastructure.”