[lug] Anyone else hate to get rid of old equipment?

[John Hernandez]

On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 6:02 PM, Nate Duehr <nate at natetech.com> wrote:
> SmartGrid is nothing more than a more palatable way to handle rolling
> blackouts, really.  They leave the lights on and kill the air
> conditioner.  Is that their decision or mine?  They're providing me a
> service, not the other way around, right?  Yeah... sure...
>

Not exactly.  Xcel has been able to meddle in A/C along the Front
Range for about a decade now with a cheap gizmo they dub the Saver's
Switch.  I'm not up on the details, but I recall they would offer
customers reduced summer electricity rates as compensation for
installing a switch.

I actually think SmartGrid has significant transparency and market
upside.  If utilities can meter usage in granular intervals of time,
it sets the stage for demand-based pricing, and if a kWh costs me
double between 1 and 8pm in the summer, you can bet I'm going to run
that clothes dryer during off-peak hours.  I might even scale back on
A/C.  Not because they forced me to, because there's financial
incentive.