New OpenADR & Matter specification bridges grid and smart homes
Posted by: electime 17th April 2025
geo (Green Energy Options), the Cambridge-based energy tech firm, has developed a groundbreaking open specification that enables OpenADR and Matter to work together, enabling mass-market, consumer-friendly grid demand response solutions. Published in March 2025, with independent input from the OpenADR Alliance and the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the specification provides a clear framework for energy flexibility.
Demand Side Response service providers (DSRSPs) and Energy Smart Appliance (ESA) manufacturers can use this bridging specification to unlock the inherent energy flexibility that’s contained in household white goods appliances, electric vehicle (EV) charging, water heating, electric heating, solar and battery storage systems.
Utilities and energy flexibility service providers have been using the OpenADR protocol for 15 years to connect homes and businesses to the grid. Using OpenADR, the grid can understand how these ESAs can be flexed; it can then send incentive signals to use energy at different times and help balance the grid.
Matter, launched in 2022, is the unifying smart home standard that defines how devices communicate. It facilitates secure data sharing within the home and the translation methodology identified in this specification enables end to end flexibility services. Matter’s widespread adoption by tech giants and appliance manufacturers, along with its built-in security and intuitive setup, allows Domestic DSR to move beyond early adopters to mass market deployment.
Sponsored by the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the initiative builds on the Interoperable Demand Side Response (IDSR) programme and previous successful projects including DSR Ready. By separating OpenADR (grid flexibility management) from Matter (direct appliance control), the specification allows providers to scale beyond traditional EV charging applications while reducing costs. The specification outlines how a local energy management system can respond to time of use tariffs, local solar generation, can enforce peak load limits, and optimise energy use – helping the grid manage demand surges while using excess renewable energy when available.
Rolf Bienert, Managing Director of the OpenADR Alliance said: “Consumers want simplicity. This specification bridges grid control with home energy management, making energy flexibility seamless.”
Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, said: “Marking a pivotal moment in energy evolution, the OpenADR specification enables communication between utilities and consumers, allowing Matter devices to respond to those energy signals. It’s an impressive step forward in enhancing grid efficiency and paves the way for a more sustainable, greener future.”
Patrick Caiger-Smith, geo Chairman, said: “Keeping consumers’ hard-earned money in their pockets by providing meaningful carbon reduction to millions of homes, simply and cost effectively, has always been central to our mission. A series of DESNZ sponsored projects have helped to make this vision a reality and this latest OpenADR and Matter bridging specification means those benefits can now be delivered sooner, not least because the commercial value for ESA manufacturers and flexibility service providers is now clearer than ever.”
The specification can be downloaded from geo’s website at the following URL: https://geotogether.com/oadr-matter-spec/.
