Leap Expands Network for Flexible Capacity to Support California Grid Ahead of Summer Peak Demand

Leap is working with leading distributed energy companies Resideo, Stem and Sunnova to actively support the grid

Leap, provider of an energy marketplace that enables Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), today announced the expansion of contracts with partners in California to provide flexible electricity capacity ahead of peak summertime demand. Leap now has agreements with 14 major electricity providers across the state, including a large group of community choice aggregators (CCAs), investor-owned utilities (IOUs), and independent power producers (IPPs). Leap has 288 megawatts (MW) and over 18,000 meters under contract from more than 30 leading technology partners.

The newly contracted counterparties include most CCAs in the state, including East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), as well as Independent Power Producers (IPPs), enabling Leap to work with its partners across PG&E, SCE and SDG&E territories with multi-year agreements.

“Over the past few summers, California has seen more and more reliability issues from extreme weather events,” said Thomas Folker, Leap's co-founder and CEO. “After playing an active role in providing flexible capacity throughout last summer, we’re growing our portfolio ahead of tight system conditions in 2021 and 2022. With our new class of distributed assets and leading distributed energy partners, we look forward to using our flexible capacity to improve grid resiliency and help firm up intermittent renewables.”

Leap’s marketplace allows technology partners to use their distributed assets to respond to market pricing signals, flexing demand during both extreme grid events and on a day-to-day basis. This enables active market participation vis-a-vis high-emission and high-cost gas peaker plants. Leap’s marketplace creates VPPs made up of diverse load types, including residential and commercial batteries, electric vehicle charging, smart thermostats, agricultural and municipal water pumping, cold storage, and commercial HVAC systems. Leap’s partners are bringing new customers into the energy markets. These partners include leading residential energy provider Sunnova (NYSE: NOVA), who will leverage its growing fleet of residential energy storage customers to help support the grid for the first time this summer.

“Sunnova recognizes the challenging situation ahead for the California power grid, and our solar + storage customers can help mitigate grid reliability issues this summer while keeping the lights on during potential power outages,” said McCrea Dunton, Director of Energy Services at Sunnova. “We look forward to working with Leap to bring more distributed energy resources to California which can support a flexible and reliable power grid for all Californians.”

“Resiliency will continue to be a key focus for the California grid this summer,” said Nick Chaset, CEO of EBCE. “Contracting with Leap is an integral part of our strategy to enhance reliability throughout summer peak demand, and will allow us to source our resiliency using clean, flexible grid capacity.”

“As another summer approaches, California has the opportunity to fortify the grid through its abundance of distributed energy resources, including battery storage,” said Julie Steury, VP of Program & Customer Operations at Stem. "Stem’s Athena™ AI-driven energy storage solutions is in a prime position to deliver valuable flexibility to the electrical grid at times of stress while achieving our customers' bill savings and resiliency goals. Leap's marketplace makes it easy for Stem to add value to our customers and partners while helping to support and revolutionize the grid."

“This collaboration allows Resideo to extend the benefits of our energy-saving solutions and increase customer satisfaction to new geographies while maintaining home comfort and enhancing grid stability in California,” said Dave Oberholzer, General Manager of Energy Management at Resideo, a global provider of whole-home comfort and security solutions. “Working with Leap helps create additional value for our thermostat customers who may not otherwise join a utility program.”

Leap continues to create new relationships for bringing flexible capacity to electrical grids across the United States and will announce its expansion into new statewide energy markets later this year. The company’s multi-year contracts allow it to give forward certainty - even up to 10 years - to help technology partners earn additional revenue for providing flexibility services throughout California and beyond.

About Leap

Leap is the leading global platform for integrating flexible energy resources into global electricity markets. Leap supplies the grid with zero carbon, price competitive alternatives to fossil-fueled power plants by creating virtual power plants (VPPs) from its partners’ batteries, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, HVAC systems and industrial facilities. Leap performs all the heavy lifting to operate and stay compliant across wholesale energy markets, enabling partners to unlock hidden revenue, increase customer engagement, and achieve sustainability goals. Leap is a privately held company with offices in San Francisco and the Netherlands.

About East Bay Community Energy

EBCE is a not-for-profit public agency that operates a Community Choice Energy program for Alameda County and 13 incorporated cities therein, as well as the City of Tracy, serving more than 630,000 residential and commercial customers. EBCE initiated service in June 2018. As one of 19 community choice aggregation (CCA) programs operating in California, EBCE is part of the movement to expedite the climate action goals of their communities and those of California. EBCE is committed to providing clean power at competitive rates while reinvesting in our local communities. For more information about East Bay Community Energy, visit ebce.org/.

About Sunnova

Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA) is a leading residential solar and energy storage service provider with customers across the U.S. and its territories. Sunnova’s goal is to be the source of clean, affordable and reliable energy with a simple mission: to power energy independence so that homeowners have the freedom to live life uninterrupted.

About Stem, Inc.

Stem (NYSE: STEM) provides solutions that address the challenges of today’s dynamic energy market. By combining advanced energy storage solutions with Athena™, a world-class AI powered analytics platform, Stem enables customers and partners to optimize energy use by automatically switching between battery power, onsite generation and grid power. Stem’s solutions help enterprise customers benefit from a clean, adaptive energy infrastructure and achieve a wide variety of goals, including expense reduction, resilience, sustainability, environmental and corporate responsibility and innovation. Stem also offers full support for solar partners interested in adding storage to standalone, community or commercial solar projects – both behind and in front of the meter. For more information, visit www.stem.com.

About Resideo

Resideo is a leading global manufacturer and distributor of technology-driven products and solutions that provide comfort, security, energy efficiency and control to customers worldwide. Building on a 130-year heritage, Resideo has a presence in more than 150 million homes, with 15 million systems installed in homes each year. It continues to serve more than 110,000 professionals through leading distributors, including its ADI Global Distribution business, which exports to more than 100 countries from nearly 200 stocking locations around the world. For more information about Resideo, please visit www.resideo.com.

Resideo's Energy Management business offers peak demand reduction, energy efficiency, behavioral demand response, and automated time of use for customers across the U.S. Resideo's energy-saving devices helped its customers save 1.2 Billion Kilowatt hours in 2020. Already working with major utilities across the nation, the company recently expanded to include additional distributed energy resources.

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