September 9, 2025
From a bold idea to a CFTC-approved launch, CleanTrade is the marketplace clean energy has long deserved.
Authored by Lee Taylor, CEO, REsurety
CEO
REsurety
Clean energy is powering a new era of economic growth but still relies on antiquated market infrastructure. We’re changing that today.
Following our approval by the CFTC to operate the first marketplace for clean energy, we are officially launching CleanTrade.
We are bringing a modern and transparent transaction platform to a space that has had to operate by email, phone calls, spreadsheets, and information services for far too long. No other company, tool, or service today comes close to offering the benefits that come with a truly centralized, regulated transactional marketplace.
This mission is personal. I grew up the son of a wildlife film producer and environmental reporter who impressed on me the need to make environmental problems my problem. I always believed that the biggest, most intractable environmental challenges could only be solved by harnessing the power of economics. The scale of the problem requires market-based solutions. This conviction is what led me to create REsurety. Our vision has always been to drive the transparency, liquidity, and impact of clean energy markets. CleanTrade is the next phase of that vision.
CleanTrade as a Milestone: Clean Energy Market Reaches Next Phase of Maturity
We’re not just digitizing legacy processes; we’re creating the fundamental market infrastructure needed to power the future of energy.
The clean energy market is massive – over $50 billion in transactions take place annually in the US alone. But this incredible scale still relies on antiquated market infrastructure. The transactions themselves are complex: a wind farm outside Dallas produces energy of a significantly different value than a wind farm outside Odessa. Each project’s intermittent generation has unique characteristics – a fact that has prevented the industry from benefiting from the revolutionary transparency and liquidity that the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) brought to traditional, dispatchable energy from sources like natural gas more than 20 years ago.
Other solutions have attempted to fill in the gaps with advisory, brokerage, and information services, but without access to a centralized marketplace, clean energy buyers, sellers, and traders waste time and money finding each other, agreeing on a fair price, and executing transactions.
We’ve built a solution tailor-made for the unique nature of clean energy assets. It’s where Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (vPPAs), physical Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and project-specific Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) can be bought, sold, and traded in a transparent, liquid, and compliant platform.
REsurety as the End-to-End Partner to Our Customers
Our core business has always been about providing the data and analytics needed to understand and manage the unique risks of clean energy assets. CleanSight is the industry-leading platform for valuing and managing these assets and our consulting and transaction advisory services have helped countless clients navigate this complex landscape.
CleanTrade ties all of this together. We now provide an end-to-end solution for our clients, helping them develop their strategy, underwrite and execute transactions, and manage their portfolios with confidence.
Journey to the First Regulated Clean Energy Marketplace
Building a modern, regulated transaction platform from the ground up is not for the faint of heart. The single biggest hurdle we faced was earning the right to be registered as a Swap Execution Facility, or SEF, regulated by the CFTC. This registration is reserved for platforms that meet the highest standards of market integrity, transparency, and compliance.
We began this journey in the summer of 2021. The process has been rigorous, demanding, and incredibly detailed. After just over four years of work, the application that the CFTC ultimately accepted was 986 pages long – a testament to the level of diligence required to meet the CFTC’s high bar to operate a compliant marketplace. We are proud to have earned this registration, but more importantly, we’re excited by what it means for the market: to offer the clean energy industry the transparency, liquidity, and efficient transaction infrastructure that the future of our energy industry requires.
This milestone took a village. I want to personally thank the incredible REsurety team for their passion, dedication, and countless hours of hard work. Your talent and grit are what made this ambition a reality.
We also want to extend our deep gratitude to our collaborators, who believed in this vision and helped us bring it to life: Citi Commodities and Citi Strategic Investments, S2G, Haynes Boone, DLA Piper, Jones Day, Stoel Rives, and Eventus. And finally, a special thank you to the dedicated staff, Commissioners, and Chair at the CFTC for their diligence, expertise, and commitment to building fair and transparent markets for all.
Today is just the beginning. The launch of CleanTrade is a giant leap forward, but it is one part of a much larger, long-term vision. At REsurety, we are committed to building the information, tools, and transaction infrastructure the clean energy market deserves, and we are excited to have you on this journey with us.
Want to learn more? Book a demo: