Setting the global standard for consumer device interoperability
Mercury is a collaborative, non-profit initiative bringing together manufacturers, utilities, regulators, and tech providers. Our mission is to develop and promote functional requirements for consumer energy devices – such as EVs, heat pumps, hot water storage systems, residential batteries, and smart thermostats – making them easier to use and to integrate into energy systems, demand-response programs and flexibility markets.
Overcoming the interoperability challenge
Low-carbon technologies are proliferating fast, with an estimated increase from 40 million devices today to 200-600 million by the end of the decade.
Today, these devices are often designed to different standards, and so interact with the grid in different ways. This prevents customers and utilities from making the most of the benefits they have to offer, stifling innovation and blocking participation in mutually beneficial demand response programs, for example.
Mercury aims to solve this interoperability challenge.
Our principles
Five principles drive our mission to accelerate DER interoperability and consumer empowerment.
Consumer empowerment
We champion consumer participation in demand flexibility programs, putting households and businesses at the center of the energy transition while helping them reduce costs and environmental impact. We make sure consumers are not locked into any single service provider and are protected from stranded device situations.
Certification excellence:
We develop rigorous certification and compliance programs with leading laboratories that ensure devices meet the required standards for compatibility and performance, giving consumers and utilities confidence in their flexible assets investments.
Collaborative innovation
We bring together industry leaders, technology innovators, and policy stakeholders to foster collaboration that drives broad adoption of interoperable DER solutions across the energy ecosystem.
Technical leadership
We establish comprehensive technical guidelines that enable true device interoperability, breaking down silos and creating seamless communication between smart-grid components.
Investment optimization
We work to maximize the return on DER investments by ensuring deployed technologies work together efficiently, reducing waste and accelerating the transition to a more intelligent energy infrastructure. We contribute to the harmonisation of grid balancing rules to reflect the demand response capabilities of large pools of energy devices at the required quality and security levels.
Benefits of the Mercury Consortium
Consumer centricity
Consumers are the most important stakeholder in the energy transition. Mercury removes the friction of fragmented technologies and energy market complexity that has stifled consumer engagement, making the use of consumer devices more simple and rewarding.
Cost savings
Increasing demand-side participation can reduce the need for costly grid expansion and expensive balancing methods. Our interoperability guidelines will unlock consumer flexibility, lowering costs for utilities and consumers.
Grid resilience
Easy participation of distributed flexible demand to energy and capacity flexibility programs at a global scale increases national and local grid resilience against extreme weather and system disruptions, with DERs’ fail-safe provisions.
A collaborative movement
This is a deeply collaborative undertaking, where manufacturers, utilities, technology providers, and regulators come together on a common, neutral ground to shape the future of energy. We’ve already achieved significant milestones, including the development of our first technical specification for EV chargers in a remarkable five months, having started that detailed technical work on January 15, 2025.