About Us
Our Mission - More Clean Energy. Now.
At Hero Power, our goal is simple: create affordable, accessible, and easy ways for more people to support clean energy.
We’re in a climate crisis. We need to respond accordingly. This means that a 100% renewable energy future must become a reality as soon as possible. We can’t do it unless we find innovative ways to decarbonize the economy, power the transition to a cleaner future, and stop the massively irresponsible burning of fossil fuels.
This is why we started Hero Power. And it’s been quite a journey to get here.
My co-founder, Yan Man, and I - who met down the road at Northwestern University as grad students - launched Hero Power after five years of developing energy efficiency software for retail electricity suppliers. Our platform was designed to provide the most helpful tips, alerts, and reminders for customers to better understand their rates and reduce their electricity bill. We considered this a win-win for both the supplier and customer. Too often we found that this view was not shared.
The End of the “Sleepy Customer”
On some occasions, retail energy executives told me flat out that they rejected the value of a more well-informed customer. Their rationale? They worried that providing better information to the consumer would hurt their business. For some, the ideal ratepayer (which is all that customers are thought of) is a “Sleepy Customer,” one that rarely knows their rates or how it changes, so they never look for a better option. A “Sleepy Customer” just keeps paying the bill.
In 2016, even Yan found out he too had been overcharged for his electricity in Chicago. He was later a part of a class action settlement and was awarded $721 in damages for this deceptive practice. It’s our hope with Hero Power that we can put an end to the “Sleepy Customer” with a network of empowered, informed, and energy-savvy consumers.
Powering A Cleaner Future
And we will continue to do our part to provide more renewable energy solutions to empower this network with new ways to fight the climate crisis. Each week, as co-host of The Climate Pod, I’m lucky enough to speak with activists, journalists, academics, entrepreneurs, and entertainers around the world to discuss the different ways they participate in the the climate movement in their own daily lives. Through their myriad approaches to combating the crisis, it’s been clear to me that there is a growing and insuppressible movement to put an end to unmitigated greenhouse gas emissions and halt deadly warming temperatures.
Hero Power is how my team and I will help do our part. We hope you’ll join us as we explore the different ways to support renewable energy and build a better future together. It’s my honor to fight for this mission and to have you join us for the ride.
Sincerely,
Ty Benefiel
Co-Founder and CEO, Hero Power
Let's Get Started
