Rocket Energy is a company that allows paying electricity and gas bills using tokens.
The security in transactions and lack of intermediaries, characteristics of the blockchain, are well suited to the fragmented energy market that is very dependent on large players.
In the current system, the different players (producers, transporters, distributors, last-mile suppliers) carry out transactions in a sequential manner. The consumer is the last link in the chain with no possibility to make their voice heard, if not to the last-mile suppliers.
Using blockchain technology it is possible to put the producer in direct contact with the consumer and to manage the energy distribution flow in a totally new way: the implementation within the blockchain of smart contracts makes it possible to start or stop the supply of energy according to the rules defined in the digital contract.
There are already several projects involving the implementation of this technology in the energy market all over the world. In Italy, the Efforce project, which also attracted the attention of one of Apple’s founders, Steve Wozniak, focuses on energy efficiency, using blockchain to make transactions and procedures efficient, safe, transparent and economical.
The startup Slock.it instead, along with the German energy giant RWE, is carrying out a project for the integration of smart contracts, based on the Ethereum blockchain, in the charging of autonomous electric cars.
Also in Germany, Eniway allows users to buy energy from its small suppliers, thanks to small alternative energy plants they own.
Finally, HivePower is developing a solution for the creation and management of local energy communities based on the Ethereum blockchain platform. But what had not yet been possible was to be able to provide consumers with electricity entirely using blockchain technology.
And this is what an all-Italian company, Rocket Energy, has achieved. Since March of this year, Rocket Energy has been allowing its customers to sign an electricity contract (in the summer it will be the turn of gas supply), which will start in June 2020, entirely using blockchain technology, with the possibility of paying the utility bills with the company’s token, TCJ, listed on the main cryptocurrency exchanges.
The moment is certainly auspicious, in view of the future complete liberalization of the domestic market, foreseen for January 2022.
Luigi Maisto, co-founder and president of the company, said:
“The energy liberalization market is a huge market. We propose an innovative solution for all users who want to change energy operator. In fact, our customers will not only enjoy prices that are certainly competitive compared to the competition but also have all the advantages in terms of efficiency, privacy and disintermediation that blockchain technology offers”.
The company can also rely on its associate Coinshare, which has already been present on the Italian market for a year with a blockchain sharing economy platform with over 400,000 users.
Thanks to this new offer, customers will have greater transparency and security at a time when they will have to choose a new electricity supplier. The innovative startup aims to reach 100,000 customers in the first three years and achieve a turnover of 100 million euros.
