Probably Stolen Power Guide: Energy Cells, PowerBloc vs Recharger, Power Line Hijack and Blackouts

Every machine in Probably Stolen runs on the Energy Cell in its own battery slot, not on your power bill. The nightly Power Service only keeps the lights on and lets the Recharger and PowerBloc charge cells. So the job is to keep each machine's battery charged: start by swapping cells by hand, add PowerBlocs next to your busiest machines, then buy Power Line Hijack in Wild's Network to stop paying the bill and ignore blackouts.

How does power work in Probably Stolen?

There are two separate systems, and most "my machine has no power" problems come from mixing them up.

• The Power Service is a line on the end-of-day tablet. Leave it ticked and you pay it every night. It does three things: the store lights stay on, the Recharger charges, and the PowerBloc charges. That is all. Untick it and the store dims, the chargers stop, and nothing else changes.
• Energy Cells power the machines. Each machine has a battery slot, and once a night it takes its whole draw from that one battery. If the battery holds less than the draw, the machine skips the night completely and takes nothing. It keeps its progress and starts again once you put in a charged cell.

Most machines only draw on nights they actually have work. A Furnace with no ore, an empty Fridge or a Water Purifier with nothing left to clean uses no power. The Alarm System and Mirage Projector draw every night they have a battery.

Machines never share power: a full cell in one machine does nothing for the machine next to it, unless a PowerBloc or Electric Eel sits between them. Nothing comes "from the grid" except through the Current Converter, which bills you in credits instead.

What is the best power setup early, mid and late game?

Four steps take you from swapping batteries by hand to machines that never need you. The sections after this one explain each piece: what machines draw, which battery to buy, chargers, Power Line Hijack and the Current Converter.

1. Days 1–15: swap cells by hand. Your first machines run on one Energy Cell each, and a Furnace or Hydroponic System gets 12 nights from a full one. Buy the empty cell from Dr. Jackson every visit. Until you own a charger, untick the Power Service: it only lights the store.
2. First charger: a PowerBloc next to your busiest machine. It charges the battery in place, so the machine runs longer without swapping. Then tick the Power Service every night again. Add a Recharger when you have spare cells to rotate.
3. Mid game: Power Line Hijack, then Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit. Hijack first if you rely on chargers, because a blackout can't stop them anymore; then the supply unit doubles every charger. Use Energy Cell (Mk. II) in hungry machines.
4. Late game: make it permanent. Enough PowerBlocs around each machine to match its draw (four for a Furnace, two with the supply unit), a Self Charging Energy Cell in every Fridge and Alarm System, and a Hypertech Power Cell or Current Converter for the odd machine that won't fit.

How much does the Power Service cost?

Day	Price Gouge / Mark Up	Thin Margins / Red Ink
Days 1–9	5	10
Days 10–19	6	12
Days 20–29	7	14
Days 30–39	8	16
Days 40–49	9	18
Days 50–59	10	20
Days 60–69	11	22

You pay 5 credits a night at the start on Mark Up, and 1 more every 10 days. On blackout nights the bill is 0, and it disappears for good once you own Power Line Hijack. If you start with the Makeshift Reactor perk, the line is gone from the tablet entirely.

Until you own a Recharger or PowerBloc, the bill only buys you light. Unticking it saves 5–6 credits a night in the first weeks while machines keep running on their batteries.

How much power does each machine use?

Machine	kJ	When it draws	Full Energy Cell (100 kJ)	Full Mk. II (250 kJ)
Fridge	2	Only on nights it has work	50	125
Vending Machine	2	Only on nights it has work	50	125
Alarm System	4	Every night it has a battery	25	62
Water Purifier	4	Only on nights it has work	25	62
Recirculating Aquaculture System	5	Only on nights it has work	20	50
Advanced Turbo Booster	5	Every night until charged	—	—
Evaporator	6	Only on nights it has work	16	41
Moisture Farm	6	Only on nights it has work	16	41
Furnace	8	Only on nights it has work	12	31
Hydroponic System	8	Only on nights it has work	12	31
3D Printer	8	Only on nights it has work	12	31
Cryptographic Desequencer	10	Only on nights it has work	10	25
DNA Manipulator	12	Only on nights it has work	8	20
Mirage Projector	16	Every night it has a battery	6	15
AgeWell	24	Only on nights it has work	4	10
Bottle Printer	4 / 6 / 11	Each time you use it	25 / 16 / 9 uses	62 / 41 / 22 uses
Deal Maker	25	Each time you use it	4 uses	10 uses
Aug Scanner	25	Each time you use it	4 uses	10 uses

Efficiency modules cut the draw: power = base − base × Efficiency% ÷ 100, rounded down, never below 1. One Efficiency Module (+16%) takes the Furnace from 8 to 7, two take it to 6. Small machines gain nothing from one module: 16% of a Fridge's 2 rounds down to 0. The AgeWell is different: Efficiency counts half and Performance also lowers its draw. See machines for every module.

Things that use power during the day take it at the moment you use them: the Bottle Printer per bottle, the Aug Scanner per scan and the Deal Maker per customer.

Which battery should you buy?

Power source	Capacity	Value when full	Dr. Jackson (Mark Up)	Notes
Energy Cell	100 kJ	110	126 · empty 12	Always in his shop: one full, one empty, 50% chance of a second full one
Energy Cell (Mk. II)	250 kJ	280	322	One full in every restock
Self Charging Energy Cell	100 kJ	500	575	Charges itself +4 a night, even with the power off or in a blackout. 8% in his shop
Disposable Battery	1,000 kJ	331	877 (Special Stock only)	Cannot be recharged. Worth only 33% of its charge, and Low-Level Contraband
Hypertech Power Cell	12 kJ a night, unlimited	2,500	—	Powers any machine that uses 12 kJ or less, forever. Each Electronic Parts (Hypertech) adds 10
Current Converter	Stores nothing	300	345	Pays for the machine's power in credits instead of a battery

• Energy Cell is the everyday cell. Dr. Jackson always has one empty cell for 12 and at least one full cell for 126, so buy empties and charge them yourself.
• Energy Cell (Mk. II) holds 2.5 times as much for less than 3 times the price, and he has one in every restock. It is the best battery for hungry machines like the Mirage Projector or AgeWell.
• Self Charging Energy Cell recharges itself by 4 kJ every night, even with the power off or during a blackout. In a Fridge, Vending Machine, Alarm System or Water Purifier (4 kJ or less) it never runs out. It is rare: 8% in Dr. Jackson's restock and two in his Monday Special Stock.
• Disposable Battery holds 1,000 kJ but can never be charged, and Dr. Jackson only sells it in his Monday Special Stock at +150% markup. It is Low-Level Contraband and worth only a third of its charge, so it is no good for resale and must stay out of your Display Case. Only worth it for one machine you can't reach with a charger.
• Hypertech Power Cell stores nothing but powers any machine up to its output forever: 12 kJ, +10 for each Electronic Parts (Hypertech) you install. It comes from the Hypertech Smuggler, after you own your store.

Some starts begin with a cell in a machine: 100 kJ in the Hydroponic Farmer's Hydroponic System, 50 kJ in each of the Aquafarmer's two RAS, and 25 kJ in the Water Merchant's Bottle Printer. With the tutorial on, Dr. Jackson's first visit (Day 6) also gives you a 50 kJ Energy Cell.

How do you charge Energy Cells: PowerBloc or Recharger?

Charging	Per night	Empty Energy Cell → 100	Empty Mk. II → 250
Recharger	+3	34 nights	84 nights
Recharger + Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit	+6	17 nights	42 nights
PowerBloc	+2	50 nights	125 nights
PowerBloc + Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit	+4	25 nights	63 nights
Adult Electric Eel	+3	34 nights	84 nights
Makeshift Reactor, fully upgraded	+4	25 nights	63 nights

Both chargers work overnight, only while your Power Service is paid (or you own Power Line Hijack) and there is no blackout. They can't charge Disposable Batteries, Hypertech Power Cells or Current Converters.

Recharger (150, about 172 from Dr. Jackson). A 4 × 2 box that holds four Energy Cells and gives each +3 a night. Use it for spares: take the empty cell out of a machine, put a full one in, and let the empty one charge. It only charges what is inside it.

PowerBloc (200, about 230). A 2 × 2 block that gives +2 a night to every battery and every machine it touches. Touching means sharing an edge in the same storage grid; diagonals don't count. There is no limit on how many things one block charges, and blocks stack: a machine with two PowerBlocs beside it gets +4. It charges the battery still inside a machine, so you never have to swap. It can't charge cells inside a Recharger.

The Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit (350 in Wild's Network) doubles both: Recharger +6, PowerBloc +4. It does nothing for Electric Eels, the reactor or Self Charging cells.

A PowerBloc keeps a machine running forever once its charge matches the draw. A Furnace (8) needs four plain PowerBlocs, or two with Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit. For any machine, divide its draw by 2 (by 4 with the supply unit) and round up.

Is Power Line Hijack worth it?

PowerBloc and Recharger make your batteries last; Power Line Hijack makes the electricity free. It is the game's way of stealing power: your store is hooked up to a solar panel that belongs to someone else.

• Price: 300 in Wild's Network on Price Gouge and Mark Up, 450 on Thin Margins, 600 on Red Ink. No other upgrade is needed, so you can buy it as soon as the network opens (Day 7, or Day 1 if you skipped the tutorial).
• What it does: the Power Service bill becomes 0 and disappears from the end-of-day tablet. Your store counts as powered every night, including blackouts, so the Recharger and PowerBloc keep charging and the Current Converter keeps working.
• Downsides: none. It does not add Heat, change any reputation or draw inspections.
• Payback: bought on Day 7 on Mark Up it has saved its price by about Day 48; on Thin Margins (450, bill doubled) by about Day 39. Blackout immunity is the real reason to buy it if you rely on chargers.
• Current Converter: still billed as its own night service, but 15% cheaper.
• Power Line Hijack II and III: 600 and 1,000 on Mark Up, each needing the level before. They do nothing for the bill or blackouts; they only raise the Current Converter discount to 25% and then 50%. Skip them unless you run several converters.

Buy it after the upgrades that earn money. If you run several chargers, it is worth more than the saved bill. The Makeshift Reactor start can't buy it, or Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit; see Wild's Network for the rest.

Is the Current Converter worth it?

The Current Converter goes in a machine's battery slot and pays for the machine's power in credits instead of from a battery. Each one costs 300 (345 from Dr. Jackson, who has one per restock, plus one each for Jackson Investment I and II).

Power Line Hijack owned	Electronic Parts (Common) installed	Credits per kJ	2 kJ	4 kJ	6 kJ	8 kJ	16 kJ	24 kJ
None	0	1.50	3	6	9	12	24	36
	5	1.00	2	4	6	8	16	24
Power Line Hijack	0	1.28	3	6	8	11	21	31
	5	0.85	2	4	6	7	14	21
Power Line Hijack II	0	1.13	3	5	7	9	18	27
	5	0.75	2	3	5	6	12	18
Power Line Hijack III	0	0.75	2	3	5	6	12	18
	5	0.50	1	2	3	4	8	12

• At night it is billed as a separate Current Converter line on the end-of-day tablet: the total of every switched-on converter, rounded up.
• During the day, power used through it (the Bottle Printer, for example) is paid from your cash on the spot.
• It can be switched off, so a converter on a machine you are not using costs nothing.
• Power Line Hijack makes it 15% cheaper (25% with II, 50% with III) and keeps it working during a blackout. Without the Hijack it gives no power in a blackout.

Compared with batteries, it is expensive: a Furnace on a converter costs 12 a night, 360 over 30 nights, while a PowerBloc beside it costs 200 once. It is worth it for one hungry machine you don't want to babysit, or for the day you are short of charged cells. Five Electronic Parts (Common) bring the rate down to 1 credit per kJ, and with Power Line Hijack III as well it is 0.50, so the Furnace costs 4 a night.

What happens during a blackout?

Event	Days	Battery prices	Chargers
Power Outage	2	+66%	Keep charging
Who Turned Out The Lights?	2	+50%	Blackout: stop charging
Power Plant Maintenance	1	+33%	Keep charging

Only Who Turned Out The Lights? is a blackout, and it lasts two nights. While it runs:

• The Recharger, PowerBloc and Current Converter stop. Your bill is 0.
• Machines keep running on whatever charge their batteries have.
• Self Charging Energy Cells, Electric Eels and the reactor still charge.
• Power Line Hijack and the Makeshift Reactor start ignore it completely.

Blackouts are rare: on a day with no other events running there is roughly a 1% chance of one.

Power Outage and Power Plant Maintenance are not blackouts: the power stays on and chargers keep working, but battery prices rise (66% for two days, 33% for one), and a customer who wants batteries shows up every day of the event. That makes a Power Outage the best time to sell: keep charging cells while you sell the full ones.

What other power sources are there?

Electric Eel. Put one in a Recirculating Aquaculture System and it powers that RAS's battery and every battery touching the RAS, each night: 2 kJ from Day 5 of its life, 3 from Day 10 (the game says it starts as an adolescent; a juvenile may already give 1, verify in game). It ignores the bill and blackouts, but it lives 36 days and does not breed. They come from the Retired Aquafarmer once you own Aquaculture II, as one of three random big fish.

Makeshift Reactor (starting perk, 1 point). You start with a Makeshift Micro Nuclear Reactor and are off the grid for good: no Power Service, no Power Line Hijack, no Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit, no blackouts.

• Integrity starts at 100 and drops 18 a night. While it is above 25, your store counts as powered, so the Recharger (+3) and PowerBloc (+2) work. Without repairs that is only four nights.
• Repair with Scrap Metal (+60) or Junk (+30, but the maximum drops by 5).
• Each Electronic Parts (Common) cuts the nightly loss by 1, up to 18. At 18 it never wears down.
• It also charges the batteries and machines touching it: 1 kJ a night, rising to 4 when fully upgraded.
• Every 160 integrity lost leaves a Radioactive Waste in its storage grid, which you can't take out of the store.
• If integrity hits 0, the next morning the run ends in Meltdown.
• Lost the reactor? Dr. Jackson stocks a replacement.

Self Charging Energy Cell, Disposable Battery and Hypertech Power Cell are covered in the battery table above.

Can you make money charging batteries?

A battery is worth its base value plus 1 credit per kJ: an empty Energy Cell 10, a full one 110, before markup and haggling. Charging is therefore income:

• A Recharger full of four cells adds 12 credits of value a night, 24 with Commercial Grade Power Supply Unit. It pays for itself in about two weeks, or one with the upgrade.
• Dr. Jackson always sells one empty Energy Cell for 12 and sells full ones for 126, so empties are the cheap way to stock up. He only has one empty per visit, which is the limit.
• Batteries sell to the Station Engineer (the biggest budget), Lower Level Inventor, Lower Level Repairman, Maintenance Worker and Scrap Buyer. During a Power Outage they are worth 66% more and an extra battery buyer comes daily.

It is a side income, not a business: more for keeping a couple of Mk. IIs topped up for the next Power Outage. See money making for what actually pays.

Why isn't my machine or charger working?

• The machine does nothing. Its battery holds less than its draw (hover it: the tooltip says INSUFFICIENT ENERGY), or it has no work. Paying the Power Service does not power machines.
• The Recharger or PowerBloc isn't charging. The Power Service is unticked, there is a blackout, or the battery can't be charged (Disposable, Hypertech, Current Converter). Charging happens overnight, not when you place it.
• A PowerBloc misses a battery. It has to share an edge with it in the same storage grid; diagonals and batteries inside a Recharger don't count.
• The Current Converter gives no power. It is switched off, there is a blackout and you don't own Power Line Hijack, or during the day you don't have the cash to pay for the power.
• The store is dark. The Power Service was not paid last night. Nothing else is affected; tick it on tonight's tablet.