OhmConnect is moving to Texas, but this time as a retail electricity provider coupled with flexible demand response expertise. And one might say that it’s not a winter storm too soon.
OhmConnect’s Texas electricity services offering is a divergence from their California offerings as a flexible demand response company. During California’s August 2020 heat wave, Ohm says its technology saved approximately 1GWh of electricity – paying its customers $1.3 million in electricity savings.
Of course, of all the states, Texas can really make use of load shedding. The 2021 Winter Storm Uri knocked the Texas power grid out for several days and led to the death of hundreds of Texans. And to be blunt, the state has done nothing substantial to fix this ongoing issue.
OhmConnect suggests that participating in their program, which allows a combination of remote software and hardware managed from a central location to scale back demand en masse during power grid events, can save users 10-15% off of their electricity bills annually. The company says it has almost 200,000 customers enrolled.
Customers are offered reward points that can be turned into cash, converted into credits on their electricity bills, entered into prize drawings, or used to buy smart devices that further reduce their energy use when they allow OhmConnect’s technology to manage energy demand.
Interestingly, the state’s Governor was pleading with the population to limit their electricity usage. That plea specifically included reaching out to Bitcoin Miners to shut down their facilities. Sources have suggested that nearly 99% of miners shut down their facilities for the storm.
Ohm
In addition to cash, credits, hardware, donations to the Sierra Club, gift cards, and other benefits — Ohm has also launched the ‘OhmConnect Wheel’! Some lucky OhmConnect customers who ‘spin the wheel’ are entered into a biweekly prize of a trip to Disneyland.
One OhmConnect family who recently won the prize says that they haven’t had to give much thought to their OhmHours, they simply turn off the A/C and double check that they aren’t using any major appliances during the event. And then, apparently, some of them go to Disneyland.
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