**Evaluate this session. **
This panel session addresses a critical challenge for utilities: the information gap between the technologies they understand and those they don’t in regard to the modern grid. Utilities would benefit from a better understanding of the developing DER community as it relates to renewable technologies, advanced controls, virtual power plants (VPP), and electric vehicle adoption. Topics covered include navigating the challenges of customer privacy, gaps in data required for robust modeling, the charging behavior of electric vehicle drivers, and the concepts of VPP.