OhmConnect Will Pay Californians to Skip Laundry Day

As if you needed another excuse to not do the laundry today, here’s a totally valid one — Californians can actually make money for skipping a load.

How? Well, just by wearing your jeans a third (or fourth) time, you’d be giving the energy grid a break. And one company wants to say thanks — in cold hard cash.

If you have a utility account with PG&E, SDG&E or Southern California Edison (which cover nearly every county in California), a company called OhmConnect will pay you to hold off on doing laundry.

OhmConnect is a free service that will text you when a lot of people in your area are using power. Your job is to simply use less electricity for about an hour a week. You could turn off your A/C, grill chicken outside for dinner or — you guessed it — wait to do your laundry until tomorrow, during odd hours.

Here’s How to Get Cash from OhmConnect

1. Sign up for a free OhmConnect account here.
2. Sync it with your online utility account through PG&E, SDG&E or Southern California Edison. You must have an online account with one of these electric companies to qualify for OhmConnect.
3. Wait for OhmConnect to text you during high-energy-consumption hours
4. Head outside, or at least turn the TV off until the hour is up. Heck, you can even play games on your phone during this hour — just resist plugging in any electronics.
5. Profit! OhmConnect rewards you with cash, prizes, gift cards and more.

This all works because the California electricity market (or California ISO) pays OhmConnect to help them avoid turning on an expensive, dirty power plant. The company then passes the savings on to you.

If you want to automate the process, you can even connect a smart thermostat or plug and let OhmConnect do this automatically. Even connecting some of your biggest energy-hogging devices to a smart plug can help you save $350 a year — effortlessly.

But you don’t need a smart device to save: The more you do, the more money you can make.

Enter your ZIP code here to open a free OhmConnect account, then sync it with your online utility account to start earning cash. Your whites can wait until tomorrow.

Kari Faber is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

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