Although I haven’t figured out a way to get my local utility company to accept payment in trade I’ve got the next best thing:  Use barter to reduce your power bill.

1) Get more efficient!  Last year I hired a plumber on barter to install a tankless water heater for me (that I obtained on barter).    The new water heater is more efficient than my old heater with the added benefit of never running out of hot water.

2)  Think outside of the box.  Instead of heating  my home with gas or electricity I use a wood stove most of the time.  I love a warm fire and because I barter for the wood I can keep my house a lot warmer than I could otherwise.   One of the down-sides of heating with wood is that you tend to have a toasty living room while your bedrooms remain icy.  That is why I’ve got a heating contractor out at my house this week working on barter.  He is installing a secondary ventilation system that pull warm air from above my wood-stove and blow it out vents in the bedrooms.

Because my home has an unusual roof I have not been able to put solar panels up there, but I think that’s a fantastic idea.  Even if you couldn’t trade for the panels, you should be able to trade for installation  Personally, if I had solar installed I would get an over-sized system and look at bartering for an electric vehicle as well.  That’s like bartering for gasoline!