Kilowatt Cards are experimental gift cards that pay for 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity in any residential utility account when REDEEMED. Since they can be used to pay for anyone's electricity, they can also be used to barter for other things - and as a store of value - so active cards may be traded to anyone.
To prove that a Kilowatt Card is real and active, enter the last six digits of its serial number in this form. If the number is active, two new digits will be returned that should be written on the card by hand, forming the end of a new six-digit number, while the first two digits are cancelled. The authentication process creates a new serial number every time, while the old number is cancelled..So nobody holding a Kilowatt Card can use copies of it, since all copies will have a cancelled serial number after any one of them has been authenticated. In this way plain paper can be traded widely, yet proven real by anyone before acceptance.
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How do electricity gift cards work?
Kilowatt Cards can be REDEEMED to pay for electricity in any residential utility account (except where it costs much more than the world average), and they can be transfered to anyone. Because the cards will pay for almost anyone's electricity, they can also be used to barter for other things.
Before accepting Kilowatt Cards for barter you should AUTHENTICATE them using the form above, to prove that they are real and have not been redeemed for electricity before, and so are still active.
Kilowatt Cards are printed on plain paper but cannot be effectively copied, because redemption value is in the six-digit serial numbers, not just the coupons. One can prove that a card is real by authenticating it, in a process which alters the serial number.
If a card is active, two new digits will be returned that should be written on the card by hand, forming the end of a new six-digit number, as the first two digits are cancelled. So nobody holding a Kilowatt Card can use copies, since all copies will have a cancelled serial number after one of them has been authenticated.
In this way plain paper can be traded widely, yet proven real by anyone with access to this website before accepting it. You should authenticate the serial number promptly (e.g. before accepting a card) or else someone with a copy of that number might do it first, and then own the new serial number.
If you don't write both new characters on the card it will then have the wrong serial number and no value - so do it - and write clearly. We suggest you also cross out the old "first two" characters, as shown on the image above.
As the cost of electricity increases (e.g., when the price of oil spikes), kilowatt-hour notes should become more precious. But the effect that that would have on this system is difficult to predict. For instance, under those circumstances would the fiat currencies hold their value in the usual way (i.e., 2 - 10% annual inflation)? Or would they go into hyper-inflation? Would most electric grids still serve the developed world 24 x 7, or would many people need private generators, due to unrealiable electricity supplies? If so, our basic premise would become somewhat unrealistic and we wouldn't be living in a well-ordered society any longer, but that's life.
While any power utility could issue its own electricity-backed notes, the chances for a local system failure due to war or fuel shortages are high. But a delocalized system transforms such physical risks into a financial question, which can be analyzed if the data is made public. So, the redemption value of delocalized scrip does not depend on the continuing operations of any given utility. In other words it can function as a stateless medium of exchange.
Kilowatt Cards are FREE (for postage and handling) so that they will not be confused with financial securities. One distribution route we like is giving them to volunteers at other non-profits.