Energy company locks thermostats at +80 degrees for 22,000 customers during ‘energy crisis’

[sklfco]

How is throttling my amperage going to stop me from using my A/C unit?

Imagine 2 separate circuits through the power meter.
1. Normal everyday path.
2. Restricted path limited to say 10 amps 110.
You could run the smaller window units sure and your tv probably. But that’s about it, anything close to or over the limit could trip the “breaker” and no power. Self resetting breaker kicks back on in a minute or two after it cools off.

 

[Seadog]

Normally my thermostat is at 76 in the summer, which makes it about 78 in the living room.

Precooling the house to 71 with cheaper energy makes sense, if one has the insulation to maintain some comfort when it's 110+ outside. We spent some coin getting more insulation in the attic; it helped immensely.

All of these problems can be traced to Obama and his plan to outlaw coal. Look up his interview with the San Francisco Chronicle prior to his first immaculation.
He stated " under my plan, electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket..."

The EPA issued regs that essentially outlawed coal plants - regs that now have been shut down by SCOTUS.

The then-head of the EPA stated that the regs would probably be shot down, but it didn't matter. It would take a decade to get to the courts, and by that time all the coal plants would be gone.

He was right. That was the plan.

One of many reasons why I hate Democrats in their despicable ways. Dirtbags is almost a compliment for them.

 

[KOPBET]

I have been in the building automation/controls/energy management business for 23 years, you will not be able to get a conventional thermostat in 10-15 years. Also there are systems (thermostats) you cant "bypass" or override, they communicate back to a controller through a specific communication protocol that is locked down. Rewire and jump it out or replace with a conventional stat yep.

I'm sure building controls can get quite complex, however, I thought we were talking about residential power with a residential HVAC system here, which I would hope would remain under the purview of the consumer.

 

[L.C.]

I keep one of the old time thermostats (New) just in case.

 

[SoonerP226]

Don't some utilities have a special box for just the AC along with a smart meter? I thought they used them to basically stagger startups so that in the event of an outage they can bring people on sequentially and not have everyone's AC hit at once.

Or I could be making it up.

Years ago, OG&E had some sort of doo-dad that attached to the outside part of the AC as part of some kind of energy conservation program, but I don't know how it worked or what it did. I haven't lived in a home powered by OG&E in over 30 years, so I haven't exactly been keeping up with what they're doing.

 

[scott024]

Supply and demand. Watch for electricity prices to soar because everyone is dependent on it. Time to start researching publicly traded electricity companies.

I hope they don't ever limit the number of KWH each house gets, and they could with the new meters they have installed now.

 

[kirk1978]

I'm sure building controls can get quite complex, however, I thought we were talking about residential power with a residential HVAC system here, which I would hope would remain under the purview of the consumer.

The residential term they are using is "smart" homes. Its already here and getting more popular by the day.

 

[Letfreedomring]

Alexa! WTF happened to my A/C?!?!?!

 

[KOPBET]

The residential term they are using is "smart" homes. Its already here and getting more popular by the day.

Yep. By the homeowner. Voluntarily. Not the utility.

 

[Gunblinder]

Just my two cents on the article, complete BS, why, because these customers signed up for that service. They took a cheaper electricity rate in turn for allowing the electric company to control their power