EP 71 -How to Save on Home Energy Bills

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Dave:
Hey everyone, Dave here with another episode of the Philly Tech Connect Podcast. Today I’m speaking with Matthew Zothner, the co-founder and CEO of Currents, a platform that helps homeowners unlock savings and modernize home energy products. The U.S. is in the midst of a massive energy transition, and consumers are often collateral damage as costs continue to rise and reliability worsens.

Currents makes it easy to understand your home holistically, upgrade energy appliances, and save money in the process. It started with a problem felt by all—high energy bills. Matthew, how are you doing?

Matthew:
Doing well, thanks for having me on.

Dave:
My pleasure. I’m psyched to talk about Currents. I’m a customer, I think?

I mean, your model is to take a commission of the savings, which is great. So I don’t feel like I’m paying something, but my intention is for us both to win. I’m excited about what you’re doing and to learn more.

Matthew:
Yeah, I think I just looked at your account. You’re projected to save $400 this year. We haven’t seen the savings yet because we haven’t gotten your next bill, but yeah. Our newest tool is for Pennsylvania homeowners. We essentially take a 20% shared savings fee, so you get 80% of the savings—and that’s where the $400 comes from.

Dave:
That’s more than fair. You don’t have to do anything. All I had to do was integrate my utility account—it took five minutes or something. Then I just forgot about it. That’s the thing—you’re trying to make home energy easy for people.

Matthew:
Exactly.

Dave:
So we met through the Philly Tech Entrepreneurs community that I’ve had for a couple of years now. Appreciate your general involvement in the Philly tech scene. I know you bounce around like most of us—to different things. You’ve been to Founders Friday, some PSL events. I think you’re leaving us soon?

Tell us a little bit about your take on the Philly startup ecosystem and what you’re hoping for when you go to LA.

Matthew:
Yeah, so I’m moving to Palo Alto—not because of my job, but because my fiancée is in medicine and got matched there.

It’s a pretty typical story for people in Philly. They come here because of their partner in medicine and happen to be in tech. Then they realize the startup ecosystem here is still growing.

I moved here in 2022 without knowing anyone—no family, no friends. I started going to events—yours and others—and realized there’s a strong grassroots community of startups, founders, and service providers.

Philly is often seen as the little brother to New York. We have half the rent prices, a walkable city, great restaurants—but the startup ecosystem is lagging. I do love this city, and I hope it continues to grow. Maybe I’ll come back.

I think the two big issues are access to talent and capital. We lose people from Penn and Drexel to New York or San Francisco, and there aren’t enough investors here yet. If we can fix that, I think the ecosystem could really thrive.

Dave:
Yeah, for sure. Definitely a brain drain issue. So many good schools producing talent, but they head out to New York, Boston, or D.C. It becomes a chicken-and-egg problem—why would investors stay if the talent doesn’t? But yeah, I hope it continues to progress.

And you know, on that brain drain—you’re part of the problem! But it’s okay. I still wish you the best and I’m excited about Currents.

Tell me a little bit about the platform—why you chose to build it—and then let’s talk a bit about the state of energy in the U.S.

Matthew:
Sure. The reason I started Currents was my parents in North Carolina. They electrified their home—got an EV, home battery due to blackouts, solar panels—and it was super confusing and expensive. It cost them $80K to $100K.

Then the Inflation Reduction Act was announced, putting billions into home energy upgrades with rebates for solar, batteries, insulation, etc. But there was no real consumer-facing platform for this—just tools for installers or utilities.

So I thought, why not build a consumer platform for home energy? I took inspiration from NerdWallet. They started with credit cards and now do all personal finance. I’m applying that model to energy.

Dave:
Very cool. I’d love to understand more about consumer energy. Like, prices go up but it’s hard to tell why. With gas, I see the number at the pump. With electricity, bills fluctuate seasonally—so is the bill higher because of usage or cost per watt?

Matthew:
Yeah, it’s a multilayered issue. Consumers are the collateral damage because all the costs get passed on to them.

The U.S. is shifting to renewables while upgrading outdated infrastructure. Demand is at an all-time high—AI data centers, EVs, home electrification. The supply can’t keep up.

Utilities upgrade infrastructure and pass the cost to consumers via higher rates. You may only see a 1–2 cent increase per kWh, but across millions of homes, it adds up.

But people can fight back: time-of-use rates, switching suppliers, getting solar, EVs, insulation upgrades. The problem is—it’s all too complex. That’s where we use AI to simplify and personalize the options.

Dave:
Yeah, I’ve seen those flyers about switching suppliers. But as a marketer, I get skeptical. What are a few things that actually work? Say someone hasn’t optimized their energy—what’s a good starting point?

Matthew:
So about switching: 20 U.S. states have deregulated energy markets. In Pennsylvania, you can switch your supplier (but not your distributor, like PECO). It creates a competitive market.

But it’s riddled with shady practices—door-to-door sales, spam, even switching people without consent. It’s regulated, but these companies use aggressive tactics.

The trap? Low fixed rates for 3–6 months, then it switches to variable rates, and the price spikes. People don’t read the T&Cs.

We built a tool that automatically switches you to the best fixed rate and keeps doing that when one ends. Plus, we use proxy emails and phone numbers to block the spam and only share what matters.

Beyond that, upgrading insulation, switching to heat pumps, or getting a more efficient HVAC system can all help. It depends on your home and state, but small changes add up.

Dave:
Yeah, I’ve heard of insulation and window upgrades, but they’re often expensive and take years to pay off. With Currents, the savings are more immediate, right? Because you’re tapping into competitive rates.

So what’s next for Currents?

Matthew:
We’re building a platform—a home energy HQ. You can ask questions, get insights, compare EV costs, optimize HVAC, etc. Think of us like NerdWallet for home energy.

Right now, we’re focused on Pennsylvania. We’ve got three tools live:

• One for general utility savings (any homeowner or renter)
• Two tools for solar owners: one helps them sell solar credits and monetize production, and one for solar monitoring

Next up, we’re expanding to Ohio, D.C., and Maryland. We’re also building tools for home batteries, Tesla charger optimization, and more. The vision is to help with every energy decision in the home.

Dave:
Love it. My feedback? I really like it. Happy to be an early part of the journey.

Matt, if people want to get in touch or learn more, where should they go?

Matthew:
Go to GetCurrents.com—like navigating water currents, but also a nod to electrical currents. You can also email us at hello@getcurrents.com.

And I’m on LinkedIn—Matthew Zothner.

Dave:
Awesome. Thanks so much for being here.

Matthew:
Thanks, Dave.

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Let me know if you’d like a condensed version for Slack or LinkedIn too!