A massive implementation of distributed energy resources (DER) requires the development of innovative approaches to identify, based on the energy market requirements, fast track options for such implementation. These approaches should assess the potential for DER of the different customer segments and simulate DER adoption for those with highest potential in order to evaluate accurately the impact of this implementation on the different energy actors. This paper introduces a methodology to asses the DER implementation potential of customer segments based on a multi-criteria analysis, considering DER as including distributed generation (DG), distributed storage (DS) and local trading strategiest(1) (LTS). Application of the methodology to the commercial sector for DG installation, considering different motivations (cogeneration, renewable, emergency generator and peaking power) and the obtained results for five different segments in this sector are presented. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.