All about Surge Bonuses

OhmConnect was created with the goal of easing strain on the power grid when demand for electricity is high. Normally this happens in the evening hours when millions of people come home from work, flip on their energy-hogging appliances and turn on the AC. (You may know these times as ‘Peak Hours’.)

If demand gets SO high the grid doesn’t have enough electricity supply to meet people’s needs, utilities are forced to shut off people’s power in what is known as a “rolling blackout.” Blackouts can be very dangerous when people are without power during extremely hot temperatures.

It’s during these hot months when the OhmConnect community is needed the most.

During the record heatwave in August of 2020, the OhmConnect community saved enough energy to power 625,000 homes and helped avoid two days of forced blackouts. With your help, we can save even more energy this summer and together put an end to California blackouts.  

This is why we’re introducing “Surge Bonuses,” which give the OhmConnect community the chance to earn even BIGGER rewards. When there’s extreme stress on the energy grid (as officials predict there will be this summer), you’ll see events with a “Surge Bonus” come your way.

Surge Bonuses: earn  2x, 3x, or even 10x more in critical events!

It will look like this on your OhmConnect dashboard:

Not only will you score MAJOR rewards during OhmHours with a Surge Bonus, you’ll also be doing your part to help your fellow Californians and the planet.

Surge Bonuses are just the beginning -- we’re working hard to make OhmConnect more rewarding for our customers.  We’ll be sharing what we come up with throughout the summer, so get excited!

It’s during these hot months when the OhmConnect community is needed the most

• The Surge Bonus applies only to your Energy Watts (the amount of energy you actually save in your home), not your Device Watts (the flat rate you receive for each connected smart device.)
• A Surge Bonus will multiply your Energy Watts if you’re successful at beating your energy goals (which will be sent to you as a minimum threshold for the event) but your losses will NOT be multiplied if you’re unsuccessful.
• You’ll be notified of a Surge Bonus in both your email and SMS notifications
• Let’s look at an example to see how the Surge Bonus calculation works:  

• The equation is: Total Watts = (Energy Watts x Surge Bonus) + Device Watts.
• Say you have an OhmHour and there is no Surge Bonus. In this OhmHour, you can earn 1,100 Potential Energy Watts and 400 Potential Device Watts, which would give you 1,500 Potential Total Watts in this event.
• Let’s take that same OhmHour and add a 3x Surge Bonus if you were to save 60% or more during the event (an example of the threshold for Surge Bonuses). Now, you can earn 3,300 Energy Watts and 400 Potential Device Watts. Your Potential Total Watts are 3,700 for this event.
  

Wondering what to do with all the Watts you’ll rack up? Check out this article for some ideas.

Stay tuned to your email and SMS notifications to find out when a Surge Bonus is coming your way!