Pretty much every item we pay for has gone up in price, and utilities are no different.
The power companies have all kinds of excuses for why the cost of power is rising, but for consumers, the why of it all really doesn’t matter.
And this man, who turned the tables and has the power company paying him, might be the new hero of the people.
Dutch software salesman Jeroen Van Diesen is using wind and solar power generation to get his Netherlands electric companies to pay him for the privilege of using their lines.
He picked two power providers that charged a wholesale power price that changes every how instead of every week, month, or year.
Because green energy providers don’t have any incentive to stop loading power into the grid, prices can and do drop below zero.
When there’s a lot of wind or sunshine, Van Diesen makes money.
So far, he’s made $34 charing his electric car – enough to pay for the service fees charged by his power provider.
“I’m charging the car for free. To me it’s also like a hobby and a game – how far can I go?”
Much of continental Europe has been able to take advantage of negative energy prices over the past couple of years, particular those with a bit colder of a climate and more renewable energy.
Financial Times reports that electric prices dropped into the negative for 7,841 hours across Europe in 2024.
Experts predict the same could start happening in the US, too, due to a pretty big leap forward in solar power capacity.
California in particular, even has some green energy going unused.
Most states don’t allow for the kind of real-time pricing that allows Van Diesen to game the system. Regulators argue that allowing the real-time pricing could potentially come back to bite customers if another Texas power crisis happened.
Governments around the world will likely reign in subsidies as more and more green energy is made available.
So now’s the time to put up some solar panels and cash in.
If you liked that story, check out this one about a Costco customer who got their cart stolen… so she hatched a plan to get it back!