Leap, the provider of a universal distributed energy marketplace, announced it has signed Resource Adequacy (RA) Agreements to provide a total of 12.5 MW in flexible capacity to two Community Choice Aggregators (CCA), Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) and Valley Clean Energy (VCE). The new capacity will be made available for use by these CCAs starting June 2021 over a ten-year term and will be sourced from Leap’s marketplace for grid flexibility.

The new agreements with Leap allow the CCAs to unlock a new means of meeting energy demand in their service territories by gaining access to a statewide market of distributed energy resources (DER). This includes delivering flexible capacity from customer facilities around the state.

Leap has been the largest participant in California’s DR Auction Mechanism (DRAM) over the past two years, and working with CCAs provides a significant expansion opportunity. Leap’s marketplace allows technology partners to deliver clean, flexible grid capacity and energy from their residential HVAC systems, battery energy storage, and commercial, industrial, and agricultural solutions. The addition of these resources allows RCEA and VCE to support California grid resiliency while sourcing capacity from their own customers, as well as zero-carbon, local, customer-based resources statewide.

Leap’s expansion to providing CCAs with RA capacity also complements California’s push to increase its incremental grid resources in the face of sustained energy demand challenges, which have been exacerbated by a summer that triggered the state’s first calls for Level 3 emergency rolling blackouts in almost 20 years.

“CCAs are an integral part of California’s transition to a cleaner and more responsive grid, and we’re proud to be working with these two organizations to unlock the value of the state’s growing suite of distributed energy resources,” said Thomas Folker, Leap’s co-founder and CEO. “This is also an important proof point for meeting California’s immediate need for more flexible capacity, especially in light of the intensifying heatwaves and energy demand that we saw here this summer.”

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with a solution provider that aligns with our vision of leveraging clean, local distributed resources to bolster grid reliability,” said Matthew Marshall of RCEA. “The new capacity added by Leap will be critical to mitigating peak demand over summers moving forward.”

“Leap’s platform is an ideal fit for ensuring a cleaner, more reliable grid for our customers,” said Don Saylor, Chair of the Board of Valley Clean Energy. “Now more than ever, it’s critical we implement solutions like Leap’s for transitioning to a cleaner, more resilient grid that utilizes all of its assets.”

Valley Clean Energy is a not-for-profit public agency formed to provide electrical generation service to customers in Woodland, Davis, Winters and the unincorporated areas of Yolo County. Its mission is to source cost-competitive clean electricity while providing product choice, price stability, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emission reductions and reinvestment in the communities it serves.

Leap enables real-time automated trading on energy markets. Leap’s marketplace for grid flexibility grants energy resources — including battery energy storage, electric vehicles, smart thermostats, HVAC systems and industrial facilities — access to global demand response programs, wholesale markets, and real-time pricing through a single API.

Leap’s open, hardware-agnostic platform turns the operators of energy resources of any size and type into autonomous smart energy traders, providing revenue to participants while unlocking the benefits of a truly resilient and transactive grid. Leap is a privately held company with offices in San Francisco and the Netherlands.