D Yuniskis wrote:
Sylvia Else wrote:
Dave M wrote:

Starting about 25 years ago, the local power company started a
program whereby they installed these boxes to home AC units and
electric water heaters, supposedly to reduce peak demand on the grid
in times of high demand.

Wonderful idea. If the AC units are creating an excessive load, just
turn them off remotely. Beats investing in grid infrastructure.

The problem is getting people to buy into this idea. It
usually is under a different tariff than "normal service".
And, utilities often don't price those tariffs rationally.
People are hesitant to let someone else turn off a "comfort
feature" if they aren't getting something "significant" for
their potential inconvenience [1]

There's not much point in having a comfort feature if it's likely to get
turned off at the time of greatest need.

I'd only go with it if the saving were enough to finance a petrol
generator to supply the power instead.


The same is true of ToU tariffs. Its as if the utility
*wants* the benefits that these tariffs offer *and* wants
to figure out how to get more money from the subscriber at
the same time!

Well, they probably do.

Sylvia.