American PowerNet Says Pa. State Agencies Buying Power Using Blockchain-Based Payments Platform
December 19,2018
American PowerNet announced that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through its electric supplier relationship with American PowerNet, is the first entity in the country to purchase its power using a vendor's blockchain-based digital payments platform
The platform uses digital representations of U.S. dollars that settle in real-time
American PowerNet said that it is offering the first end-to-end blockchain-enabled platform for purchasing renewable energy, Verde Blocks.
The blockchain-based digital payments platform affords American PowerNet, via their Verde Blocks platform, the ability to settle with power generators on a daily basis once schedules are confirmed, compared with the traditional 30-day payment structure that has long been the industry standard.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority have begun to incorporate the payment platform into their regular transactions of buying and selling power via American PowerNet’s Verde Blocks platform, a blockchain technology that provides large retail electric buyers direct access to sustainable power generators utilizing smart contracts protocols to automate many of the functions. The Verde Blocks platform helps large retail electric buyers and sustainable generators find one another, American PowerNet said
"By incorporating one of the key advantages of blockchain technology, a smart contract structure will create a single ledger and will automatically hold and disperse payments," American PowerNet said
"One of the advantages of Verde Blocks is its ability to confirm with the Independent System Operator (ISO) each day the agreed-upon generation has been scheduled into the system," American PowerNet said
American PowerNet said that the payment platform does not include any transaction fees or transaction limits, and enables daily settlement to the generators for the delivery of their power, versus the industry standard of monthly, 10 days after the end of the 30-day delivery period.
"The Verde Blocks platform provides large retail electric buyers a cost-efficient, low-risk approach to purchasing sustainable power without entering into extended commitments. This marks an important and revolutionary shift within the energy ecosystem, which has been underserved to date," said R. Scott Helm, chief executive officer of American PowerNet