FERC 2222 & DNO to DSO: Different Markets, Same Challenge
- Scott Smith
- Jul 7
- 2 min read
Whether it's FERC 2222 in the U.S. or the DNO-to-DSO transition in the UK and EU, utilities are being asked to do more with less—more DER, more visibility, more flexibility—all on infrastructure never designed for it.
At the center of this transformation is a key technical gap: the lack of operational visibility at the grid edge.
SCADA systems typically stop at the substation. Smart meters are isolated from operational analytics.
Many IT-driven data lake solutions, while powerful, lack grid awareness and real-time contextualization; they treat meter data as flat files with no understanding of phase connectivity, topology, or switching.
That’s where a system like PowerRunner is different.
Rather than just storing data, PowerRunner integrates SCADA and smart meter data in real-time, contextualized by a dynamic network model. It enables operational analytics that are aware of how the grid is actually behaving, not how it was designed on paper.
Case in point: Europe is leading the DSO transition charge, and at UK Power Networks, PowerRunner supports operational decision-making from the feeder to the meter. It validates meter-to-transformer relationships, monitors transformer loading, predicts low-voltage faults, and provides a real-time model of the network—all critical for supporting active system operation and DER integration.
In the US, PowerRunner is working with a large IOU to pioneer the new integrated functionality to enable FERC 2222, where the paradigm of insulated planning, operations, and settlement will give way to an integrated physical and financial transaction platform.
This is not a data warehouse. It’s a grid analytics platform—built for the realities of distribution operations.
As the line between IT and OT continues to blur, let’s not lose the operational context. If your data lake can’t tell you which customers are behind which transformer—or how a switching event changes the load profile—can it really support the DSO future?