The planet-friendly electricity bill hack that thousands of California residents are trying this summer
Did you know, you are entitled to receive payments for your energy savings? Residents of California have had a program available in which local energy authorities will pay you to reduce energy use when your city is at risk of turning on the worst polluting power plants.
One of the most common questions we get here at OhmConnect is ‘where does the money comes from?’ So here goes!
If a California resident saves energy at times when an environmentally damaging power generator is at risk of turning on, they can receive a payment through the OhmConnect platform from that state or province’s energy authority (the CAISO in California.)
To help mitigate the risk of new, unsustainable peaker plants being built in these states and provinces, the local energy authorities are working with OhmConnect to introduce a simple service that pays people for the energy they save. The easy-to-use platform pays customers via PayPal for the energy they are already saving and also helps eliminate our communities’ reliance on energy from unsustainable sources.
Up until now, it was only large industrial corporations that were eligible to be paid for their energy reductions during peak-demand periods but now, with the launch of OhmConnect’s residential platform, we’ve given power to the people.
To participate in the program, you simply receive a text message or email (your choice) once per week on the day before these dirty power plants turn on. All you need to do is to hold off on doing any high energy activities, like laundry or running the dishwasher, and reduce energy if possible by turning down your A/C etc. OhmConnect coordinates with other users in your neighborhood to ensure enough people reduce energy use to prevent that power plant from turning on.
Your energy savings are measured through the smart meter your utility provider installed and OhmConnect sends you a payment. You can choose whether to pocket that payment or donate it to your favorite charity! To get started, sign up for OhmConnect here and connect your utility account.
We’ll spare you the electricity joke about this being a ‘positive’
