This paper presents a model-based networked control approach for managing distributed energy resources (DERs) over communication networks. As a model system, we consider a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) plant that communicates with the central controller over a bandwidth-constrained communication network that is shared by several other DERs. The objective is to regulate the power output of the fuel cell while keeping the communication requirements with the controller to a minimum in order to reduce unnecessary network utilization and minimize the susceptibility of the SOFC plant to possible communication disruptions in the network. Initially, a feedback control law is designed to regulate the power output of the SOFC plant at a desired set-point by manipulating the inlet fuel flow rate. Network utilization is then reduced by minimizing the rate of transfer of information between the fuel cell sensors and the central controller without sacrificing the desired stability or performance properties. To this end, a dynamic model of the SOFC plant is embedded in the controller to approximate the dynamics of the plant when measurements are not transmitted by the sensors, and the state of the model is updated using the actual state that is provided by the SOFC plant sensors at discrete time instances. When full-state measurements are not available, an appropriate state observer is included in the control structure to generate state estimates from the measured outputs, which are then used to update the model states. Ail explicit characterization of the maximum allowable transfer time between the sensor suite of the SOFC plant and the controller (i.e, the minimum allowable communication rate) is obtained under both state and Output feedback control in terms of plant-model mismatch and the choice of control law. The characterization accounts for both stability and performance considerations. Finally, numerical simulations that demonstrate the implementation of the networked control architecture and its disturbance handling capabilities are presented.