EnergyNet Explained: Internetification of Energy Distribution
Report, 2025
In developing EnergyNet we have leveraged and are extending lessons from telecom’s shift from a centralized, circuit-switched phone system to decentralized, packet-switched data networks.
EnergyNet utilizes:
1) an Energy Router that enforces galvanic separation and utilizes software-controlled energy flows over a DC backplane,
2) Energy Local/Wide Area Networks (ELAN/EWAN) based on DC microgrids that interconnect through an open Energy Protocol (EP), and
3) a control plane comprised of the Energy Router Operating System (EROS) and EP Server which is managed at operator scale through an Energy Network Management System (ENMS).
We distinguish the architectural contribution (Tier-1: components, interfaces, operating model) from expected outcomes contingent on adoption (Tier-2). The latter includes local-first autonomy with global interoperability, near-real-time operation with local buffering, removal of EV-charging bottlenecks, freed grid capacity for data centers and industrial electrification, as well as a trend toward low, predictable, fixed-cost clean energy. Evidence from early municipal demonstrators illustrates feasibility and migration paths. The contribution is a coherent, open, and testable blueprint for software- defined, decentralized energy distribution, aligning power-systems engineering with networking principles and offering a practical route from legacy, synchronous grids to resilient, digitally routed energy distribution systems.
EnergyNet utilizes:
1) an Energy Router that enforces galvanic separation and utilizes software-controlled energy flows over a DC backplane,
2) Energy Local/Wide Area Networks (ELAN/EWAN) based on DC microgrids that interconnect through an open Energy Protocol (EP), and
3) a control plane comprised of the Energy Router Operating System (EROS) and EP Server which is managed at operator scale through an Energy Network Management System (ENMS).
We distinguish the architectural contribution (Tier-1: components, interfaces, operating model) from expected outcomes contingent on adoption (Tier-2). The latter includes local-first autonomy with global interoperability, near-real-time operation with local buffering, removal of EV-charging bottlenecks, freed grid capacity for data centers and industrial electrification, as well as a trend toward low, predictable, fixed-cost clean energy. Evidence from early municipal demonstrators illustrates feasibility and migration paths. The contribution is a coherent, open, and testable blueprint for software- defined, decentralized energy distribution, aligning power-systems engineering with networking principles and offering a practical route from legacy, synchronous grids to resilient, digitally routed energy distribution systems.
Author
Jonas Birgersson
ViaEuropa Sverige AB
Marc A. Weiss
University of California
Jimmy Chen
Stanford University
Daniel Kammen
Johns Hopkins University
Tomas Kåberger
Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Environmental Systems Analysis
Franklin Carrero-Martínez
National Academy of Sciences (NASEM)
Joakim Wernberg
Lund University
Michael Menser
Brooklyn College
Newsha K. Ajami
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Innovation and entrepreneurship
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering
Computer Sciences
Areas of Advance
Energy
DOI
10.48550/arXiv.2509.08152
Publisher
Cornell University