On 26/03/16 11:28, tim... wrote:

"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 Mar 2016 02:58:29 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35894922

"The British government has committed to getting 53 million smart
meters into our homes and small businesses by the end of 2020, at an
estimated cost of £11bn."

analysis snipped

"The EU has said that all its members must provide smart meters by
2020 as long as there is a positive economic case to do so."

Economic case for whom, energy companies or consumers?

Germany said no on ecomonic grounds, Austraila and Canada found it
too expensive and of little benefit.

I can't see the benefit for most people. Is the government really
expecting people to be looking at their meters every few hours to see
what electricity they're using, and thereby cutting back? I can't see
it happening. If people aren't aware of what kit uses how much
electricity, they're unlikely to be interested in the usage at any one
moment, or what is using it. If people are sufficiently interested,
they either know what uses large amounts, or they can go out and buy a
monitor that tells them.

The only useful smart meter would be one that can be interrogated
remotely from some central computer, so that it's not necessary to
employ someone to come and read it every six months.

The other obvious useful feature is that you can charge a different
rate for electricity used when there is surplus electricity available,
to encourage people to do the high load stuff like drying clothes
when there wont be any need to use the high cost power generators
at peak demand times etc.

We already have meters that do that

They are "dumb" in the sense that the period of time that charges a
lower rate is fixed, but realistically that is how it has to be if you
are going to encourage culture shift, and there is no reason why they
can't be adjusted to have more than one "fixed" period/rate

Telling people that at some random part of the day their electricity is
going to be cheaper and that they should "look out for it", just aint
gonna work


What is both possible and practical is to key the mains frequency to the
price, or have some online access to live markets, and then have very
smart appliances that gobble up e,g. freezer power when a gust of wind
hits scotland.

The problem of course is how much consumption is 'dispatchable' in the
sense that it can be time shifted without affecting economic activity.

I can see the underground stopping for half an hour while we wait for
the tide to come in etc.

Not.
tim





--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
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