You have questions, we have answers.

54% of American households and much of the world (e.g. Europe) are in deregulated energy markets — which means consumers have some choice in where to buy their electricity. In these markets, the companies who operate the wires and poles are different from the providers who buy and sell power. Light is one of these electricity providers, built as a platform to enable any company to offer their own branded and embedded electricity plans.

Despite what you'd think, the most popular plans are not the cheapest. In Texas, the top two electricity providers charge 40%+ premiums and still hold 65%+ market share. Why? Trust, experience, and brand matter. With Light, you can deliver a unique and trusted energy experience your customers are willing to pay for.

Yes, Light offers virtual power plants (VPPs). We make it easy to monetize distributed energy devices such as batteries, EVs, and smart HVAC systems by handling everything end-to-end. We operate the devices to capture value from time-spread trading, which can be retained as revenue by the partner or passed through to end customers. Partners can choose between a predictable fixed revenue model or a revenue share model to participate in market upside.

Many consumers don't have strong loyalty to their electricity provider and, unlike a standard utility company, you have loyal and satisfied customers who already trust your brand. Offering an electricity plan that enhances the value of your core product — with unique features they can't get elsewhere, available in the channel they're already engaged with — is highly compelling. Partners using Light's platform have seen over 30% of their customers enroll in their branded electricity plan.

Referring customers to a utility hands them over to another company and an experience you don't control. Most utility companies are known for hidden fees and unmet expectations that don't align with the brand promises you've built. It also forces customers to open a separate account, leaves revenue on the table, and risks losing the customer relationship altogether. With Light, you keep the customer, the revenue, and the experience.

In retail choice markets, the transmission and distribution utility (TDU) is responsible for outages — not electricity retailers like Light, and not you as the partner. Partners are not liable for outages. As their retailer of record, Light makes it easy for customers to contact their local utility directly. As a regulated electricity provider, Light's plans are just as reliable as the largest providers in the country.

Light offers three integration paths to fit any team's capacity: a no-code web app for same-day launch, prebuilt embeddable UI components for a week-long integration, and a REST API for fully custom development. This enables partners to launch their own branded electricity plans and enroll customers in a matter of days, then integrate more deeply over time.

54% of American households are in deregulated energy markets where consumers can choose their electricity provider, as are significant portions of Europe, the UK, Australia, Japan, and elsewhere. Light currently operates in Texas, the largest retail electricity market in the US, with expansion planned to the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) and Midwest (Ohio, Illinois). There is an eventual path to all 50 states.

Light operates as the licensed Retail Electricity Provider (REP); partners act as brokers who market and enroll customers into Light-powered plans. All partners have a net revenue-generating program. Light only makes money when new customers enroll and new meters come online, so fees are designed to incentivize new enrollments rather than charge upfront.

Light can support multiple plan types — it's as simple as adding a new plan ID on our side and updating messaging on yours. The only requirement is to launch the first plan and see at least one home enrolled before expanding to additional audiences. This sequencing keeps launches smooth and ensures early success. Once the first plan is live and working, additional plans can be rolled out immediately.

Partners can name their plans however they choose, but Light does not license its brand for use on partner plans. Light maintains neutrality as an infrastructure provider and avoids any appearance of competing with partners' own branded offerings.

Mothership Energy is designed to help companies eventually become their own Retail Electricity Provider (REP). Light takes a different approach — partners get all the benefits of being a REP (revenue, brand control, customer ownership) without ever needing to take on the regulatory, financial, or operational burden themselves. Partners who later want to take on more — handling billing, customer service, or wholesale power procurement — are free to do so, and Light can support that transition.

Light holds an Option 1 REP (Retail Electricity Provider) license and a Level 2 QSE (Qualified Scheduling Entity) license in Texas. This allows Light to both retail electricity directly to customers and schedule power on the ERCOT grid on behalf of distributed energy resources.

If Light were to cease operations, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) would step in and transfer customers to a different REP. Each customer's contract would be left intact and their original rates are guaranteed — customers would not lose their plan terms.

Light provides monthly bill credits for the electricity solar panels export back to the grid. These credits offset energy charges on a customer's bill — they do not cover fixed monthly fees (base charge) or delivery charges from the local transmission and distribution utility (TDU). Credits are unlimited and never expire. They roll over month to month and carry over to additional plan terms upon renewal. If a customer leaves the plan, any unused credits are forfeited — there is no cash payout.

Light does not offer cash payouts for unused solar credits when a customer cancels. Unused credits are forfeited upon leaving the plan. Credits only carry forward when a customer renews or transfers to another Light plan.

Light does not currently offer RTM (real-time market) buyback plans. RTM buyback rates in ERCOT hover around 3 cents/kWh, so offering RTM buyback would not materially reduce the import rate for most customers and is not a significant differentiator in the current market.

Light's virtual power plant (VPP) program is designed to be unobtrusive. The value we underwrite comes largely from self-consumption and dispatch events, which number in the tens per year — not hundreds. Light retains at least 20% battery capacity at all times for homeowner emergencies. During extreme weather alerts, Light respects the battery's storm watch policy (such as Enphase's Storm Guard feature) to ensure homeowners have full backup capacity available.

Plans that advertise high battery reward rates — such as some time-of-use or 'free nights' plans — often offset those rewards with higher kWh rates for grid electricity and reduced or no solar buyback rates. As a result, homeowners can end up paying more overall even if the headline battery reward seems more appealing. Light's battery plans are structured to maximize total bill savings, not just the battery credit line item.

Light's battery plans deliver monthly bill credits, guaranteed. 'Free nights' plans can be very complex to estimate and often end up more expensive overall. They offset free nighttime electricity with high daytime kWh rates, which drives up costs depending on usage patterns. During storm preparation, when batteries switch to backup mode, homeowners on 'free nights' plans may face steep charges from expensive daytime and evening rates. These plans also frequently include minimum usage fees — if a well-utilized battery reduces grid energy consumption below the plan's minimum threshold, homeowners incur additional charges.

Light supports time-of-use (TOU) plans, though only approximately 5% of Texas electricity customers are currently on TOU plans, which limits their mass-market appeal. Free Nights / Weekends plans are technically possible but are difficult to price correctly, carry margin risk, and often result in higher total costs for customers who don't carefully manage their usage. Light recommends plan structures that maximize predictable savings for customers.

Home battery installations typically range from 10 kWh to 60–80 kWh. These extremes represent different use cases: 10–20 kWh is well-suited for home backup power, while systems above 20 kWh are generally optimized for battery monetization through programs like virtual power plants (VPPs), rather than primarily for homeowner backup.

It depends on the event type. During a blackout or brownout — when grid capacity or supply is short — those are high-value dispatch opportunities where Light will discharge enrolled batteries to maximize VPP monetization. During a severe weather event, Light respects the battery's Storm Watch feature (an ERCOT-wide OEM-level setting) and goes hands-off, allowing batteries to charge to full capacity for homeowner backup.

The primary opt-out path runs through the partner, since that is where the original VPP enrollment takes place. When a customer opts out with the partner, the partner notifies Light via API, which revokes Light's control of the battery. A customer may also implicitly opt out by revoking battery access or overriding Light's control directly — in that case, Light notifies the partner via API so the partner can follow up with the customer to re-enroll if desired.

No. Opting out of the VPP program has no impact on a customer's underlying electricity rate plan — their rates remain the same until their contract renews. The VPP program operates as a separate layer on top of the electricity plan.

Yes. Light's VPP program is compatible with solar financing agreements, including loans. Enrolling a battery in the VPP does not affect the customer's financing terms — it uses the same program components as a standard agreement.

Light strongly recommends SolarEdge inverters and batteries for VPP participation. SolarEdge offers the deepest integration with Light's platform and the most reliable dispatch performance, which directly affects the value captured through the VPP program.