OhmConnect turns energy conservation into a paid gig for households. The platform connects to smart thermostats, plugs, and EV chargers in participating homes and automatically reduces electricity consumption during peak demand periods — called OhmHours. Homeowners earn cash or rewards for every kilowatt-hour they don’t use when the grid is stressed, and they don’t have to lift a finger because connected devices adjust automatically.
The business model works because the aggregated demand reduction has real monetary value. When thousands of homes simultaneously cut consumption, the effect is equivalent to firing up a small power plant. OhmConnect sells this “negawatt” capacity into California’s wholesale energy market, earning revenue that it splits with participating households. The company calls this a virtual power plant, and California regulators have certified it as a legitimate grid resource.
OhmConnect has enrolled over 200,000 homes in California and expanded into Texas. The company’s Resi Station product bundles smart devices — Nest thermostats, smart plugs, and battery storage — into a free or subsidized hardware kit that deepens each household’s demand flexibility. Revenue comes from wholesale market participation and partnerships with utilities looking to manage peak load without building new gas plants. Based in Oakland with about 150 employees, OhmConnect demonstrated that behavioral demand response, when automated and scaled, can compete with physical power generation assets.
