Virtual Power Plants are Energy Affordability Infrastructure

Energy affordability has become a mainstream economic issue for Americans, and it’s starting to erode trust in our power institutions. 

Residential electricity costs are rising fast across the country. Costs jumped over 10% between March 2025 and 2026, and rose 27% from 2021 to 2025, according to the EIA and Pew Research Center respectively. These represent a national trend, not anomalies in regions with high penetrations of renewables. 

Many families can’t absorb those kinds of increases. NEADA estimates that 21.5 million households, roughly one in six, are behind on their energy bills. EIA’s 2024 Residential Energy Consumption Survey puts the scale of hardship in sharper relief: 43.6 million U.S. households experienced at least one form of energy insecurity, with 32.9 million households reporting they had reduced or gone without food or medicine to pay energy costs. That's one in four households in the wealthiest economy on earth — a country that invented the modern grid — choosing between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table. 

21.5 million households, roughly one in six, are behind on their energy bills.

A crisis of confidence

Ratepayers are worrying that these price spikes aren’t temporary, undermining their trust in their utility companies. A March 2026 PowerLines-Ipsos poll found that 77% of Americans expect utility costs will keep rising, while 80% feel helpless to control how much they are charged. 

That loss of trust is especially critical because the pressure on the grid is only increasing.

Electricity demand is growing for the first time in decades, driven by electrification, manufacturing, and AI. The traditional solution — build new generation, build new wires, recover the cost from ratepayers — is moving too slowly and costing too much. Berkeley Lab’s latest interconnection queue data shows more than 2,060 GW of generation and storage capacity seeking connection to the grid as of the end of 2025, while projects that do get built take a median of more than four years from interconnection request to commercial operation.

Enter data centers, which make this capacity challenge impossible to ignore. The International Energy Agency expects global data center electricity consumption to more than double by 2030, with the U.S. accounting for the largest share of projected growth. IEA also warns that about 20% of planned data center projects could be at risk of delay if grid risks are not addressed.

There is a solution to bridge this critical capacity gap most quickly and efficiently, one that also addresses the affordability crisis. And it’s already being installed in homes and businesses across the country.

VPPs lower costs across the board

Batteries, EV chargers, smart thermostats, HVAC systems, building controls, and other flexible energy assets can be coordinated together as virtual power plants (VPPs) to provide dispatchable capacity for the grid. When aggregated, small distributed energy resources (DERs) become meaningful flexible capacity that can help meet peak demand, support reliability, and reduce reliance on the more expensive, more polluting traditional generation resources that would otherwise be called on to balance the grid.

VPPs deliver affordability benefits at both the system level and for individual customers. 

For the electric grid, VPPs tap into flexible energy assets that already exist rather than building new generation infrastructure. A Brattle study found that VPPs can meet peak demand at 40 to 60% lower net cost than traditional gas peaker plants. They’re inherently local, so they can also defer billions in transmission and distribution upgrades that utilities would otherwise pass on to ratepayers.

For participating customers, most receive direct financial rewards for their flexibility contributions, while smarter energy use drives additional savings on their electricity bills. 

VPPs can meet peak demand at 40 to 60% lower net cost than traditional gas peaker plants.

VPPs can also lower the upfront cost of DER adoption itself. Technology companies are now starting to embed the anticipated value of grid services directly into device pricing, turning future earnings into an immediate discount for customers who enroll. That makes the economics of purchasing batteries, EV chargers, smart HVAC systems, and other flexible assets easier to say yes to. 

A premium for clean, reliable, flexible capacity

VPPs that show up consistently during grid events become more valuable to utilities and grid operators, earning their place as trusted, reliable energy resources. 

Large-load customers, like data center developers, will pay a premium above the typical energy market rates for this kind of verified flexible capacity that can be immediately deployed to support their energy needs and enable faster interconnections. 

Leap’s partners can put those premium payments directly in the hands of their customers. By pairing VPPs with large loads willing to pay for accredited capacity that provides speed to power, it creates the opportunity for companies to offer more lucrative upfront incentives, turning DERs into assets that can help pay for themselves by supporting the grid.

This is how load growth becomes a source of affordability rather than just a driver of new costs.

The opportunity ahead

The distributed energy ecosystem already offers a solution to the wide-sweeping energy affordability challenge impacting millions of people in the U.S. today.

With Leap, future grid services revenue can be pulled forward so partners can share more value with customers when it matters most

The next era of energy affordability won't be built by constructing more infrastructure and passing the bill to ratepayers, but by tapping into the full capabilities of the energy assets currently being deployed at the grid edge and routing more of that value back to the customers who make it possible.

Leap partners with technology companies to transform their DER portfolios into high-performing VPPs by providing automated energy market access, enrollment infrastructure, dispatch optimization, and settlement capabilities. With Leap, future grid services revenue can be pulled forward so partners can share more value with customers when it matters most: when they are deciding whether they can afford the battery, smart thermostat, EV charger, or HVAC upgrade. 

That's how technology companies can turn grid services participation into a competitive advantage: lower customer acquisition costs, stronger conversion, and a recurring value story that extends well beyond the initial sale.