ZipPower San Leandro
Increasing DER penetration by improving coordination between DER aggregators and grid operators
ZipPower, LLC
Recipient
San Leandro, CA
Recipient Location
9th
Senate District
20th
Assembly District
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
This project was terminated. Throughout the term of the agreement, ZipPower, LLC requested significant budget changes, and numerous project team changes, resulting in insufficient progress and excessive delays, as well as low confidence from the Energy Commission in ZipPower, LLC's ability to build and maintain a successful project team.
The Issue
Traditionally, renewable energy in communities has been implemented one rooftop at a time without basing investment decisions on an assessment of the community's energy system as a whole or the integration and automation of all required components. The absence of an integrated, community-wide energy planning and implementation process results in a lost opportunity to increase distributed renewable energy output in a more efficient, scalable, and strategic manner.
Project Innovation
This project was to develop and pilot a platform that optimizes distributed energy resource planning by integrating and automating all the data required to target optimal sites across city areas, and streamline pre-approval of the permitting and interconnection at those sites. The project was to also use aggregated customer financing as an option to design, finance, deploy, scale, and replicate Advanced Energy Communities.
Project Benefits
SB 350 (2015) sets a 50 percent renewable energy standard and a goal of doubling energy efficiency savings in existing buildings by 2030. Local governments can play a critical role in achieving that goal by helping facilitate community-scale deployment of Integrated Distributed Energy Resources (IDER) such as energy efficiency, onsite renewables, demand response, and electric vehicles. This project was to pilot innovative planning, permitting and financing approaches and tools to help improve the business case for IDER adoption at the community-scale.
Consumer Appeal
Greater deployment of advanced energy technologies at a community scale will increase consumer familiarity and comfort with ZNE homes and communities, increasing the likelihood of consumers choosing to live in communities deploying advanced energy technologies.
Affordability
This project will reduce the time and costs needed to bring community-scale IDER projects to a shovel-ready state.
Economic Development
This project will pilot new approaches that increase the financial attractiveness of community-scale IDER projects, which could lead to increased investment in the community.
Key Project Members
Alberto Colombo
Subrecipients
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Growing Energy Labs, Inc.
OSISoft, LLC
City of San Leandro
Match Partners
ZipPower, LLC
