Commercial buildings, from offices and schools to campuses and retail chains, account for up to 35% of total energy consumption. This “missing middle” — referring to underserved segments of the commercial market that have historically been difficult to reach or uneconomic to enroll in demand programs at scale — is a hidden powerhouse, offering a vast, untapped reserve of flexible power that can act as a virtual power plant (VPP) for the grid. For utilities managing surging electricity demand, the missing middle offers a scalable, non-wires approach to expanding grid capacity that can be deployed in just a few months.
Until recently, this capacity remained largely out of reach. Unlike residential loads that can be automated with simple setback rules, or large industrial facilities with on-site energy staff, commercial buildings have no natural mechanism to respond to dispatch signals without disrupting tenants or operations. There’s no person watching for a curtailment event at 3pm on a Tuesday, and no simple single-device lever to pull.
“We’re now able to connect to most modern building management systems, understand what’s happening in that building, and report back to a utility instantly,” explains Hellai Sherzoi, Marketing Director at Edo. “But connectivity alone doesn’t make a building flexible. The real shift is that we can now pre-configure how a building responds to a dispatch event and execute that automatically – without anyone onsite having to do anything.” This capability allows platforms like Edo to transform commercial buildings into dispatchable VPPs - reliable, scalable resources that respond to grid signals without disrupting the people inside them.
What has changed to make demand response reliable?
Demand response had historically been considered difficult to scale because it required manual actions. Unlike conventional power plants, demand response relies on human actions to reduce load. This uncertainty has been compounded by a lack of real-time performance data, which makes it difficult for grid operators to reliably depend on these resources.
Today, AI and advanced automation have transformed demand response into a dependable resource by enabling precise, real-time adjustments to energy usage without human intervention. By using predictive analytics to anticipate peak demand, utilities can now dispatch flexible resources before supply shortages even occur. These technological advancements allow modern VPPs to behave much like traditional power plants.
“Reliability has improved through better forecasting and the volume of data we can now process,” says Emilie Bolduc, Chief Commercial Officer at Edo. “Without today’s computing power, we wouldn’t be able to offer the near real-time response utilities require.”
A reliable energy system must be both secure and occupant-friendly. Edo protects sensitive data through connections that minimize dependence on a building’s internal IT network. The system also protects occupant experience by replacing “blunt switches” with automated pre-conditioning, which adjusts temperatures before an event to support the grid without occupants even noticing.
Why missing middle commercial customers are an untapped resource
The missing middle share common characteristics, including complex or aging building systems and limited staff capacity to actively manage energy programs across diverse spaces. “They’re too small for large industrial demand response programs but too big and operationally complex to be served by smaller residential or commercial smart device initiatives,” Bolduc says. “They have meaningful, controllable load, but the design of most programs is too burdensome on facility teams to sustain.”
Activating the missing middle transforms existing buildings into flexible energy assets that scale alongside today’s surging demand. By utilizing software-driven solutions, utilities can unlock capacity in months rather than years, offering a cleaner, faster alternative to building new power plants or waiting for traditional grid upgrades.
“It’s a non-wires approach,” says Sherzoi. “You aren't laying groundwork or dealing with years of planning and feeder improvements whereas systems like Edo can bring load online in months.”
How to unlock this capacity now
Standardize the building integration layer
Unlocking commercial capacity requires breaking the "language barrier" of proprietary building controls. While mapping individual vendors was once a slow and expensive manual process, a single gateway can now translate BACnet - the global standard for building automation - to allow disparate systems to interoperate, regardless of a property’s age or manufacturer.
AI then automates the categorization of large volumes of data to pinpoint the HVAC systems, chillers, and other hardware that regulate a building’s environment. “AI can ingest and categorize millions of points,” says Sherzoi. “We’ve gone from months to weeks, and soon it will be days.”
Design programs for the missing middle
Successful programs must bridge the gap between residential simplicity and large-scale industrial customization. Since mid-sized owners often lack dedicated engineering staff, enrollment must be streamlined, the on-site burden kept to a minimum, and clear incentives should be put in place.
- Lead with Operational Value: Focus on the operational benefits that facility managers care about most, such as making the building more comfortable and cheaper to run, says Bolduc. She notes that by ‘tuning’ a building to run better, utilities provide ‘immediate bottom-line value,’ making grid participation feel like the “icing on the cake.”
- Balance Financial Incentives: Bolduc recommends a split between a capacity payment for being ready and a performance payment for actual load reduction. This ensures owners stay enrolled and don't “hit the override button,” she notes.
- Align to Efficiency and Demand Response: Merge energy efficiency and demand response silos. Bolduc suggests that when buildings improve daily operations and become grid-interactive - acting as a two-way resource that automatically shifts its load to help the grid - incentives should be "2x or 3x higher."
Procure flexibility as a resource
Scaling commercial flexibility as a grid asset requires utilities to value it alongside traditional supply. By establishing clear performance expectations, this outcome-based approach transforms building load into a core, contractable component of the long-term resource mix.
- Define Performance Standards: Reliability is the most important metric for a grid operator. “We aim for a 90% delivery accuracy rate,” Bolduc explains, noting that the goal is to ensure buildings deliver exactly what they promise. When a utility can trust that a group of buildings will consistently show up and perform, those buildings become a high-quality alternative to traditional power plants.
- Demand Real-Time Visibility: Managing the grid effectively requires seeing results as they happen, not weeks after a crisis is over. This instant data builds the trust needed to make fast, critical decisions to keep the lights on. “Utilities used to wait days or even weeks to confirm that power was actually reduced,” Bolduc notes. “Now, near real-time visibility allows for much faster operational decisions.”
- Value Customer Engagement: Procurement is about securing a reliable partner, not just buying megawatts. By offering ongoing value and incentives, utilities transform passive commercial accounts into active partnerships. “This model keeps utilities in constant touch with owners,” Sherzoi notes. “When measured in terms of customer satisfaction, that shift is existentially important for a utility.”
Closing the gap between surging demand and decade-long infrastructure timelines requires "non-wires" solutions that are ready to deploy today. By partnering with Edo to automate building integrations and procure firm capacity, utilities can secure crucial resources in months. This approach delivers reliable power at a fraction of the cost of traditional physical upgrades.
