Forem: Karthikeyan DSK

Talk to the Grid: Control Energy Infrastructure with Claude + MCP

Karthikeyan DSK — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 21:24:49 +0000

The energy grid is the largest machine humanity has ever built — and it has no API.

Until now.

EnergyAtIt exposes 30+ tools that let Claude dispatch batteries, verify carbon attestations, read meters across 8 industrial protocols, and create demand response events. All through natural language.

This tutorial walks you through connecting Claude to energy infrastructure in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Install the MCP Server

No dependencies. No config files. One command:

npx energyatit-mcp-server

That's it. The server starts on stdio and registers 30+ tools with any MCP-compatible client.

Step 2: Add to Claude Desktop

Open your Claude Desktop config:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "energyatit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "energyatit-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "ENERGYATIT_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. You'll see the hammer icon with 30+ tools available.

No API key yet? Skip the env block entirely — the sandbox works without one.

Using Claude Code instead?

claude mcp add energyatit -- npx -y energyatit-mcp-server

Done.

Step 3: Explore Your Sites

Ask Claude:

"What energy sites are available?"

Claude calls list_sites and returns your tenant's sites with location, capacity, and asset counts:

┌─────────┬───────────────────────┬──────────┬────────┐
│ Site ID │ Name                  │ Location │ Assets │
├─────────┼───────────────────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ SITE-01 │ Dubai DC Campus       │ Dubai    │ 12     │
│ SITE-02 │ Abu Dhabi Solar Farm  │ AUH      │ 8      │
│ SITE-03 │ Riyadh Edge Facility  │ Riyadh   │ 6      │
└─────────┴───────────────────────┴──────────┴────────┘

The sandbox comes pre-loaded with simulated sites, assets, and meter data — so you can explore immediately.

Behind the scenes, Claude is making authenticated API calls to the EnergyAtIt platform. You're just talking.

Step 4: Read Real-Time Data

"What's the carbon intensity at the Dubai data center?"

Claude calls get_meter_readings and get_grid_prices to pull real-time data:

Dubai DC Campus — Current Readings
───────────────────────────────────
Grid Import:     42.3 MW
Solar Generation: 18.7 MW
Battery SoC:     73%
Carbon Intensity: 0.42 tCO₂/MWh
Grid Price:      $0.087/kWh (off-peak)

This works across protocols. The same natural language query triggers Modbus reads from PLCs, OpenADR signals from utilities, and OCPP status from EV chargers — all translated into one clean response.

Step 5: Dispatch a Battery

Here's where it gets interesting. Ask Claude:

"Dispatch the battery at 2MW for 30 minutes"

Claude calls dispatch_command:

✓ Dispatch Command Sent
──────────────────────
Asset:     BESS-001 (Tesla Megapack)
Command:   DISCHARGE
Power:     2,000 kW
Duration:  30 min
Status:    EXECUTING
Dispatch ID: DSP-20260213-0847

That's a real state change. The platform translates Claude's natural language into protocol-specific commands — Modbus registers for industrial batteries, OCPP messages for EV chargers, OpenADR signals for utility-enrolled loads.

One sentence from you. Eight protocols handled underneath.

What else can you dispatch?

"Charge the EV fleet at 50kW each" → OCPP 2.0 charging profiles
"Curtail HVAC by 30% for the next hour" → Modbus setpoint writes
"Shift the cooling load to off-peak" → demand response scheduling

Step 6: Generate a Carbon Attestation

"Generate a carbon attestation certificate for the Dubai facility"

Claude calls create_carbon_record and get_carbon_certificate:

✓ Carbon Attestation Generated
───────────────────────────────
Facility:    FAC-001 (Dubai DC Campus)
Period:      2026-02-13T00:00:00Z → 2026-02-13T23:59:59Z
Consumption: 1,015.2 MWh
Emissions:   426.4 tCO₂e
Intensity:   0.42 tCO₂/MWh
Renewable %: 44.2%

Hash Chain
──────────
Previous:  a7f3c2...e891d4
Current:   3b8e1f...c402a7
Algorithm: SHA-256
Verified:  ✓ Chain intact

Every record is appended to a SHA-256 hash chain. Each entry references the previous hash, creating a tamper-evident audit trail. If anyone modifies a historical record, the chain breaks — and verify_carbon_chain will catch it.

This is how you get from "trust me" to "verify it yourself" in carbon accounting.

All 30+ Tools

Here's everything Claude can do once connected:

Category	Tools
Sites & Assets	`list_sites`, `get_site`, `list_assets`, `get_asset`
Dispatch	`dispatch_command`, `dispatch_history`
Carbon	`create_carbon_record`, `verify_carbon_chain`, `get_carbon_certificate`
Demand Response	`create_dr_event`, `dispatch_dr_event`, `settle_dr_event`
Settlements	`generate_settlement`, `verify_settlement`
Compliance	`generate_compliance_package`, `generate_scope2_report`
Reliability	`get_asset_reliability`, `get_site_reliability`
Grid Intel	`get_grid_capacity`, `get_grid_trends`, `get_grid_prices`
Procurement	`create_procurement`, `analyze_procurement`
Integrations	`get_integration_status`, `get_meter_readings`
Sandbox	`provision_sandbox`, `sandbox_status`, `health_check`

Get an API Key

The sandbox is free and works without authentication. When you're ready for production:

Go to energyatit.com/developers
Sign up for the Pioneer program
Create an API key from Settings → API Keys
Add it to your Claude Desktop config as ENERGYATIT_API_KEY

Keys are prefixed eat_live_ (production) or eat_test_ (sandbox).

What's Next

We're building toward a world where AI agents autonomously manage energy infrastructure — dispatching batteries when grid prices spike, shifting compute loads to follow renewable generation, and settling carbon in real time.

The MCP server is the interface layer. The grid is the machine. Claude is the operator.

Start with the sandbox. Break things. Then connect it to real iron.

npx energyatit-mcp-server

How We Translated OpenADR XML to JSON in 47ms — Building the API Layer for the Power Grid

Karthikeyan DSK — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:40:17 +0000

Every critical infrastructure system has been abstracted into programmable primitives.

Banking has Plaid. Payments have Stripe. Communications have Twilio.

The power grid? Nothing.

The grid speaks 8 major protocols — IEC 61850, DNP3, Modbus, OpenADR, OCPP, IEEE 2030.5, and more. They were built by different standards bodies, in different decades. A Modbus register read looks nothing like an OpenADR XML event.

We're building the translation layer.

The OpenADR Challenge

OpenADR 2.0b is the protocol utilities use for demand response. When a utility wants a data center to reduce power consumption, it sends this XML:

<oadr:oadrDistributeEvent>
  <oadr:oadrEvent>
    <ei:eiEvent>
      <ei:eventDescriptor>
        <ei:eventID>EVT-DR-001</ei:eventID>
        <ei:marketContext>http://dewa.gov.ae/DR</ei:marketContext>
      </ei:eventDescriptor>
      <ei:eiEventSignals>
        <ei:eiEventSignal>
          <ei:signalName>SIMPLE</ei:signalName>
          <ei:signalType>level</ei:signalType>
          <ei:currentValue>
            <ei:payloadFloat><ei:value>2.0</ei:value></ei:payloadFloat>
          </ei:currentValue>
        </ei:eiEventSignal>
      </ei:eiEventSignals>
    </ei:eiEvent>
  </oadr:oadrEvent>
</oadr:oadrDistributeEvent>

On the other side, we return:

{
  "eventId": "EVT-DR-001",
  "signalName": "SIMPLE",
  "signalType": "level",
  "signalValue": 2.0,
  "marketContext": "http://dewa.gov.ae/DR",
  "status": "active",
  "startDate": "2026-02-11T10:00:00Z",
  "durationSeconds": 3600
}

47ms. Full semantic translation, not just XML-to-JSON byte conversion.

Why Semantic Translation Matters

A naive XML-to-JSON converter gives you namespace-prefixed nesting five levels deep. Useless for developers.

Our translation engine does four things:

Parse — XML deserialization with namespace handling
Extract — Pull semantically meaningful fields
Normalize — Map to consistent JSON schema across all protocols
Enrich — Add context (what does signal level 2.0 mean?)

8 Protocols, One API

Protocol	Era	Format	Used For
OpenADR 2.0b	2009	XML	Utility demand response
Modbus TCP	1979	Binary registers	Industrial equipment, BESS
IEC 61850	2003	XML/binary	Substation automation
DNP3	1993	Binary	SCADA telemetry
OCPP 2.0	2020	JSON	EV charging
IEEE 2030.5	2013	XML	Smart inverters, DER
IEC 60870-5-104	2000	Binary	Wide-area grid telecontrol
ICCP/TASE.2	1996	Binary	Inter-utility data exchange

We sit at the intersection of all eight. One API. One JSON schema.

45 MCP Tools for AI Agents

We built 45 tools on Anthropic's Model Context Protocol:

// Dispatch a battery
await mcp.call("dispatch_command", {
  assetId: 42,
  commandType: "discharge",
  parameters: { powerMw: 5, durationMinutes: 60 }
});

// Carbon attestation
await mcp.call("attest_energy", {
  meterId: "MTR-DEWA-01",
  kwh: 1250.5,
  source: "grid"
});

// Find subsidies
await mcp.call("scan_subsidies", {
  facilityId: "fac-001"
});

The agent doesn't need to know the underlying protocol. It just calls tools.

Try It Yourself

Developer sandbox with prizes up to $1,000:

https://app.energyatit.com/journey

5 core primitives: connect, dispatch, settle, comply, intel
6-stage developer journey with auto-progression
Leaderboard
SDKs in TypeScript, Python, and Go

The grid is the last major infrastructure without an API. We're fixing that.

EnergyAtIt — https://energyatit.com
Built by Karthikeyan DS (ex-AWS, led launch readiness for AWS Hyderabad data center region)