With OhmConnect, it’s easy to get rewarded for saving energy.
Here’s how it works: It all starts with something we call an OhmHour.
What’s an OhmHour, you might be wondering?
In short: The OhmHour is where the magic happens.
It’s a brief window of time (usually on weeknight evenings) when demand on the energy grid is so high that utility companies would rather pay their customers to reduce our collective usage than the alternative - firing up a dirty, expensive “peaker” plant.
HOW IT WORKS
OhmConnect is a free service available in California (PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E customers), New York (Con Edison customers) and Texas (folks with an active OhmConnect retail energy account). We are expanding into states where smart meter data is readily accessible and we can calculate how much electricity your household reduced during an energy-saving event.
Don’t live in California, New York, or Texas but want to get in on the action? You can still be part of our lucrative referral program! If you refer an eligible California, New York, or Texas resident to OhmConnect and they connect their utility and save energy, you will get paid and so will your friend!
Participating utilities include:
This depends on the size of your home and how well you save energy. The key to earning consistent rewards is to use connected devices, such as smart thermostats and smart plugs. We’ve found that members who use a smart thermostat or two smart plugs are the ones who earn the most each month.
Whenever you can successfully save energy during an OhmHour or AutoOhm, you'll earn what we call Watts. And Watts are worth money or rewards in the OhmConnect Rewards Marketplace! When you have Watts in your OhmConnect account, you can do any of the following:
Great question! And please bear with us, it’s a little complicated.
In the US and Canada, there are nine regional energy markets where energy is traded. These markets provide a trading mechanism for buying and selling energy over many timeframes. Multi-year planning is done to make sure that the region has the right development of infrastructure and minute-by-minute planning is done to make sure that supply and demand are balanced and there are no blackouts.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
OhmConnect trades energy in these markets like a power plant. We bid a quantity of energy at a specific price and if the market accepts our bid, we are contracted to (and get paid to!) deliver that energy. The trick is that we don’t actually create any new energy - we simply reduce as a community, which has the same effect as contributing energy to the grid. OhmConnect then distributes the rewards to its members in the form of cash payments and fun prize drawings.
In order to earn your cash payments, you’ll need to connect your utility's online account to OhmConnect. Each utility company is a little different, so you’ll want to check out the instructions for your specific electricity provider:
Welcome to the OhmConnect community!
