On Jan 4, 12:07*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
California to require programmable communicating thermostats. It's a
thermostat with a built-in FM receiver so the state can set the temperature
of your HVAC system to whatever they think is appropriate.

"In other words, the temperature of your home will no longer be yours to
control. *Your desires and needs can and will be overridden by the state of
California through its public and private utility organizations. *All this
is for the common good, of course."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/..._your_thermost...

If you're going to read the americanthinker side of the story, you
should also read this site:

http://topics.energycentral.com/cent...l.cfm?aid=1622

Aside from the fact that it appears to be a fairly friendly discussion
related to the pros and cons of PCT's by every day people, there seems
to be some discrepencies between the main article at that site and the
one at americanthinker. Well, maybe they are not 'discrepencies' in
the literal sense, but the way each site explains the process
certainly differs.

Specifically, americanthinker implies that the "state" will control
your PCT during price events with manual overide by the homeowner
possible, while the energycentral site seems to imply that the
consumer can "opt-in" for these controls if desired. Yes, in both
cases the utility will take control of your PCT, but the way it is
worded at energycentral doesn't make it sound as big-brother-esque as
americanthinker. If the homeowner gives the utility permission to
control the PCT during price events, then no one has lost any
freedoms.

As far the emergency conditions go, call me a wimp if you want, but if
the utility decides to increase the set points of all the PCT's in my
neighborhood so our AC only keeps our houses at 80, but our fridges,
freezers, computers, TVs and phones keep working, let 'em! Given the
choice of what devices to keep running in order to avoid a blackout,
I'd choose to live without my AC over the others. Look at it this way
- the utilities already have the abilty to take areas off the grid if
they feel it is in the best interest of the "whole" - i.e. rolling
blackouts. Which would you prefer: A few hours at 80 degrees or a few
hours with no power at all? I'll opt for the former.