McGinnis: Permissionless plug-in systems can eliminate residential install soft costs
James McGinnis · The rise of permissionless DERs · Jan 29, 2026 · at 16:01
David Energy CEO James McGinnis explains how direct-to-consumer, plug-in energy storage products bypass traditional permitting, electrician labor, and customer acquisition costs.
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“Permissionless can effectively Put that to zero. Because two of the big components there are three of the big components are permitting labor and CAC. And so think about a buy online motion where a consumer is just going to Amazon and buying one of these and plugging them in themselves. That totally removes CAC and soft costs. And then also based on all the regulation that's being worked on now is the permitting side of things you know, can go away as well. So, half of the cost in a residential install you could think of as basically being gone.”
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