Q&A: SmartThings and Leap on Rewarding Sustainable Living 

Do you want to be rewarded for living sustainably? Who wouldn’t? That’s why we partner with environmental pioneers like Leap to offer easy access to smart solutions through the SmartThings app.

Leap connects smart energy devices to the grid, helping people and businesses earn money by saving energy while making the grid cleaner and more reliable. Together, we launched Flex Connect within SmartThings Energy, a program that helps users in New York, California, and Texas save energy and earn rewards for supporting the stability of our energy grids. Users can access insights about their consumption in SmartThings Energy, a comprehensive energy management solution in the SmartThings app.

In our latest LinkedIn Q&A, we chatted with Leap to discuss our partnership, integration with SmartThings Energy, and more. Browse the highlights below or keep reading for the full conversation. 

The Highlights

SmartThings: For those who are new to your brand, what is Leap?

Leap: Hey SmartThings! It’s great to be here. Leap is a software platform that connects smart energy technologies to grid programs, enabling energy users to contribute to reducing electricity consumption during periods of high demand.

Through our innovative partnership with SmartThings, customers in California, New York and Texas can participate in the Samsung Flex Connect program and earn rewards when their qualifying smart devices save energy during energy events, contributing to a cleaner, more reliable energy system. 

SmartThings: That’s great! Yes, let’s talk more about Flex Connect! This is a demand response program offered by Samsung that enables users to earn an immediate reward and additional Samsung Rewards for conserving energy when it matters most for the grid. 

Available through SmartThings Energy in the app, under the Life tab, users can easily see if their zip code is eligible and sign up for Flex Connect. Once their eligible devices – like smart thermostats and Samsung appliances – are connected in SmartThings and set up for optimization, their devices will automatically participate when peak demand events are called. As a benefit, households typically see lower electricity bills by saving energy during expensive peak periods.

Can you share how Flex Connect opens up the opportunity for SmartThings users to get even more insight into their home energy data?

Leap: Yes, of course! The integration now allows eligible SmartThings users in New York, California and Texas to see their whole-home electricity usage data in the SmartThings app, enabling them to track their energy patterns throughout the day and week and understand usage spikes that might contribute to higher electricity bills. This empowers users to play a more active role in their home energy management!

The Full Conversation

SmartThings: Hey Leap! Thank you for joining us for a Q&A today. For those who are new to your brand, what is Leap?

Leap: Hey SmartThings! It’s great to be here. Leap is a software platform that connects smart energy technologies to grid programs, enabling energy users to contribute to reducing electricity consumption during periods of high demand.

Through our innovative partnership with SmartThings, customers in California, New York and Texas can participate in the Samsung Flex Connect program and earn rewards when their qualifying smart devices save energy during energy events, contributing to a cleaner, more reliable energy system. 

SmartThings: That’s great! Yes, let’s talk more about Flex Connect! This is a demand response program offered by Samsung that enables users to earn an immediate reward and additional Samsung Rewards for conserving energy when it matters most for the grid. 

Available through SmartThings Energy in the app, under the Life tab, users can easily see if their zip code is eligible and sign up for Flex Connect. Once their eligible devices – like smart thermostats and Samsung appliances – are connected in SmartThings and set up for optimization, their devices will automatically participate when peak demand events are called. As a benefit, households typically see lower electricity bills by saving energy during expensive peak periods.

Leap: Yes, Flex Connect works as SmartThings’ very own virtual power plant! It’s good for the grid, good for the climate, and good for customer’s pocketbooks. And thanks to Leap’s seamless enrollment process on the backend, SmartThings users can get enrolled with just a few simple steps.

SmartThings: Can you help explain what a peak demand event is?

Leap: Sure! “Peak demand” refers to the point of highest electricity demand in a day (or another given period). When peak demand is higher than grid operators have planned for with their base power supply, they traditionally fire up more fossil fuels to make up the difference, but now they can call a peak demand event: this triggers a request to providers like Leap to signal participating devices to adjust their energy usage for a couple of hours in order to lower demand on the grid. 

SmartThings: Exactly! So, how does the SmartThings and Leap partnership work during these events?

Leap: When peak demand events are called, Leap sends a signal to SmartThings to modestly and automatically adjust their connected devices’ energy usage for participating customers for a couple of hours, without disrupting home comfort. The Flex Connect program is all about giving the customer control: users can adjust which devices participate at any time. 

SmartThings: How does this impact the grid? Are there further impacts on the climate, too? 

Leap: In short – the cleanest energy is the energy you don’t use! By lowering energy usage across many households in targeted areas, VPPs help boost grid stability and lower emissions. 

And that’s especially important during extreme weather events like heat waves, when energy usage spikes and grid operators have traditionally had to fire up inefficient fossil fuel “peaker plants” to ensure there’s enough electricity to go around, making energy more expensive – and dirtier – for everyone.  

Through programs like Flex Connect, we’re making the grid more resilient and more flexible, which also makes it easier for the grid to integrate more intermittent renewable resources like solar and wind by helping to solve the mismatch between electricity demand and renewable energy supply.

This is the future of connected, sustainable living – where every household can play an active role in supporting grid resilience and lowering emissions. 

SmartThings: AND, where every consumer can be made more aware of how their energy devices are operating and how their home is impacting the grid. That’s huge! 

Can you share how Flex Connect opens up the opportunity for SmartThings users to get even more insight into their home energy data?

Leap: Yes, of course! The integration now allows eligible SmartThings users in New York and California to see their whole-home electricity usage data in the SmartThings app, enabling them to track their energy patterns throughout the day and week and understand usage spikes that might contribute to higher electricity bills. This empowers users to play a more active role in their home energy management!

SmartThings: Thanks, Leap, for explaining that. It’s a huge benefit for our customers, and it’s free and easy to access! We are so glad to be partnering with you to provide consumers with innovative data and tools to better their whole home energy management. 

SmartThings: That was very informative. Thank you to our partners at Leap for chatting with us today! Want to know more? Learn about Flex Connect on the blog. #DoTheSmartThings

Leap: Thank you for having us SmartThings!