Demand response is the business of getting paid for not using electricity. You might think that would sometimes lead to fraud, and oh does it. Here is the story of someone who allegedly committed fraud by signing up fake customers, promising that they would cut back their electricity use, and then getting paid even though they didn’t.

First, a very stylized sketch of the electric grid. In the US, there are several regional electric grids that transmit electricity from power providers to users and are run by organizations with names like MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) or ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas). Various providers — power plants, etc. — sell power to the grid, and much thought goes into the auction mechanisms that match supply and demand and determine how much the providers get paid.

QOSHE - Ketchup Caddy Sold Some Fake Electricity - Matt Levine
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Ketchup Caddy Sold Some Fake Electricity

5 24
28.02.2024

Demand response is the business of getting paid for not using electricity. You might think that would sometimes lead to fraud, and oh does it. Here is the story of someone who allegedly committed........

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