Key Takeaways
- Tyler Nuss, CEO of Yield Energy, discussed his background, the company’s evolution, and how agriculture fits into the future of demand response and grid management.
- Yield Energy aggregates on-farm energy assets to provide grid flexibility, with irrigation pumping as its core focus.
- Participating farmers earn an average of $20,000–$30,000 annually through utility flexibility programs, without upfront costs.
- The company is shifting to a hardware-agnostic model to integrate with existing on-farm automation systems.
- Utilities are increasingly adopting agriculture-specific demand response and virtual power plant programs.
- More than 10GW of flexible capacity opportunity exists in irrigation alone across the U.S., according to Yield Energy.
As utilities face growing pressure from electrification, AI-driven demand, and aging infrastructure, agriculture is emerging as an increasingly relevant contributor to grid flexibility. Yield Energy, formerly operating under Polaris Energy Services, is building programs that allow utilities to tap into on-farm energy assets—starting with irrigation pumping—while providing farmers with an additional revenue stream.
In a recent conversation with iGrow News, Tyler Nuss, CEO of Yield Energy, discussed his background, the company’s evolution, and how agriculture fits into the future of demand response and grid management.
Tyler Nuss’s Farming Roots to Energy Infrastructure
Nuss grew up on a family farm in California producing specialty vegetable crops south of Sacramento. After leaving agriculture to pursue a technology career, he spent several years in Silicon Valley, working at companies including Apple, Zoox, and Rivian.
“I grew up in agriculture and farming,” Nuss said. “Like a lot of farm kids, I ran away from the farm, worked in tech, and then felt the pull back.”
Alongside his corporate career, Nuss co-founded the Modern Acre podcast with his brother, building a media platform focused on agriculture and agribusiness. That experience helped him identify opportunities at the intersection of farming, technology, and energy.
About a year and a half ago, Nuss joined Polaris Energy Services, a profitable California-based company focused on agricultural demand response, to lead its next phase of growth. The company has since rebranded as Yield Energy.
“It was a non-conventional move,” he said. “But this is where I want to spend the next five to ten years building something meaningful.”
Tyler Nuss on How Yield Energy Works
Yield Energy provides utilities with flexible capacity by aggregating on-farm energy loads that can be shifted during peak demand periods. Rather than building new power plants—which can take decades—utilities can use these flexible resources to stabilize the grid more quickly and at lower cost.
“What we provide is flexible capacity,” Nuss explained. “When the grid is stressed, these resources can respond and shift energy use to another time.”
The company’s legacy business focused on irrigation pumping in California, deploying proprietary hardware to automate participation in utility programs. Farmers are compensated by utilities for allowing their pumps to be curtailed or shifted during grid events.
On average, participating growers earn between $20,000 and $30,000 per year, with larger operations receiving $40,000 to $50,000 annually.
“Farmers don’t pay us anything,” Nuss said. “We get paid by the utility, and farmers benefit from the incentives.”
Transitioning to a Hardware-Agnostic Model
A major strategic shift for Yield Energy has been moving away from proprietary hardware toward a hardware-agnostic platform. With on-farm automation now widely adopted, the company can integrate directly with third-party irrigation and energy management systems.
“Ten years ago, there wasn’t much automation on farm,” Nuss said. “Today, growers already have systems in place, which lowers the barrier to participation.”
This shift allows Yield Energy to work with smaller pumps—down to around 50 horsepower—and expand the pool of eligible farms. As a result, farms with lower energy loads can still see meaningful financial returns.
Agriculture-Specific Grid Programs
Nuss emphasized that agriculture requires dedicated demand response programs, rather than being grouped with residential or commercial customers. Energy use patterns for large irrigation pumps differ significantly from other customer classes.
“No one else is focused on the operational realities of how farmers use energy,” he said. “That’s where our value comes in.”
Yield Energy recently launched an agriculture-specific program with PG&E, reflecting a broader shift among utilities toward tailored solutions. According to Nuss, many utilities are beginning to recognize that agricultural load represents a largely untapped source of flexibility.
Currently, Yield Energy manages approximately 200MW of load. More importantly, Nuss noted that the broader opportunity is substantially larger.
“There is over 10 gigawatts of opportunity in irrigation alone across the U.S.,” he said.
Expanding Beyond Irrigation
While irrigation remains the company’s foundation, Yield Energy is expanding into additional on-farm energy assets, including solar, battery storage, electric vehicles, and facility loads. Greenhouses and indoor farming operations are also part of the company’s growth strategy.
“Irrigation pumping makes up about 1% of all U.S. electricity use,” Nuss said. “But agriculture has many other energy assets that can participate in flexibility programs.”
Geographically, the company is looking beyond California to states such as Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington, as well as international markets with similar grid conditions, including Australia.
Tyler Nuss Looking Ahead to 2035
Looking toward 2035, Nuss sees Yield Energy operating at significantly greater scale, working with dozens of utilities and managing multiple gigawatts of flexible load.
“I want to spend the next ten years building this into a really significant business,” he said. “If we can improve farm profitability while helping utilities manage the grid, that’s a win for everyone.”
As utilities search for faster, more adaptable ways to manage demand, Yield Energy’s agriculture-focused approach highlights how farms could play a growing role in the future of energy infrastructure.
