Coin Operated electricity meters

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by MIPS

if there is anyone who can design a better way to make people pay-up for non-compliance

Almost certainly, we already have that all over the USA right now: The "smart meters" that likely most power providers have installed.

Since one big function of those meters is presumably remote-controlled shutoff, it would be trivial to set up a credit-card-controlled online account system to buy power in bunches of kWh, including accounting for the cost differences of day versus night and so on.

The only "catch" would be local or state laws that prohibit turning off utilities if it will endanger the lives of the customers (think of electric-powered heat in North Dakota in the winter, for example).