Xpost: California wants to control home thermostats (Hmmm) [View All]

[Dead_Parrot]

SAN FRANCISCO: The conceit in the 1960s show "The Outer Limits" was that outside forces had taken control of your television set.

Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.

The proposed rules are contained in a document circulated by the California Energy Commission, which for more than three decades has set state energy efficiency standards for home appliances, like water heaters, air conditioners and refrigerators.

The changes would allow utilities to adjust customers' preset temperatures when the price of electricity is soaring. Customers could override the utilities' suggested temperatures. But in emergencies, the utilities could override customers' wishes.

Article at http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/11/america/calif.php
Original LBN thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3136767#3136821

What caught my eye was the responses, many of which seemed horrified at the prospect of being forced to use less power by the people that make it: I had to check I hadn't stumbled into FR by mistake. Kudos to Boreal for trying to insert some sanity, BTW.

Anyway, I thought in the light of this thread it might be interesting to discuss smart grids, demand side management, if having your A/C tweaked is only one step away from room 101, and whether (given these are the responses from liberals) there is any fucking hope.

For the record, although hydro is waaaay more reliable that wind or solar, I'm now well used to having the power company remotely switch off my hot water tank, office heating, or even the entire house if there's no juice. It's annoying, but it beats building another fossil fuel power station or having brown-outs in the hospital.