Gov't controlling the AC usage in CA

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I just heard on NPR the other day that the govt. now has the technology to shut down large air-conditioning units like the ones on malls and big buildings with the use of a laptop and the satellites. They are going to use it to control the rolling blackout problem. Don't you all feel relieved that they are going to handle this for us? It makes me wonder how long it will be till they shut down the power to my house because I am one of the "undesirables".

-- Evelyn B. in NY (peontoo@yahoo.com), June 18, 2001

Answers

Wow. Thank God for the knowledge of how to live without the modern technology. I knew there was some reason I felt compelled to learn how to live that way.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), June 18, 2001.

here in California, there is a commerical for an Air Conditioning Company that states it is high tech and that the controller gives the Electric company the ability to turn off your air/heat when ever it needs the extra power.

Now isn't that special!!!

-- whistle blower (notgonnasay@nowhere.com), June 19, 2001.

oh shucks, thats old technology. we had that 15, maybe 20 years ago here in oklahoma. nothing new.

OG&E is our electric provider here. they came up with a device called PEAKS. i forget exactly what the acronym stood for. anyway, it was purely voluntary. if you volunteered to use it, they'd give you a discount on your electicity. a technician would come out and install it on your outside unit.

when it got super hot, which it does here ( but since then we have built a LOT of new power plants and export a lot of electricity from oklahoma now) and there was a huge demand for electricity, OG&E could send a radio signal to your unit and it would not allow it to come on for something like 10-15 minutes per hour, but it would allow it to run for 45-50 minutes per hour. their computers knew where each unit was, and they knew what the demand was for electricity, and they knew how much power they had available to distribute, so the managers and computers would basically not allow your unit to come on for like 10- 15 minutes per hour. the rest of the time, it could come on and off as needed. it was a way of managing electricity.

a fair number of people volunteered, but i didn't. but i did have some family and friends who did. it really wasn't even noticeable when they activated your unit. all you would notice was that the house would gradually get a bit warmer, and about the time you'd figure it was time for the air conditioner to come on, it might not, and if it was activated it wouldn't til the time period was up. after the 10-15 minutes, the a/c would kick on and go to work. please understand it was only hooked up to the a/c unit, not the rest of the house.

i tell you what, i get an absolute kick out of some of these conspiracy nuts. i mean, i do think the government is a big pain in the wazoo, but some of these paranoids amaze me.

we have very low energy prices in oklahoma, due to the public utility commission. they hold the utility companies feet to the fire and only allow them to charge a fair profit amount. no gouging. anyway, since we've built so many new power plants, OG&E finally gave up on that PEAKS system and trashed it. came out and took'em all back and toss'em. no one has'em anymore. but anyway, at the time, it worked and it helped.

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), June 19, 2001.

Our rurual electric cooperative here in the part of Ohio where we live has a PEAK type program. I'm not sure if they use it on central electric air conditioners and heaters (we don't have those) but they will hook up your hot water heater to it and you also receive a large, new hot water heater for free. We never notice when it is shut off because the tank is so well insulated. We feel our electric price here is very reasonable (not so with propane though!!).

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), June 19, 2001.

Was this on the same report of the black helicopters transporting aliens?

I have the technology to shut down any Air conditioner. Its called a power switch.

I sure the story was talking about rate plans that have auto shutoff options. There are both residenial and business rates. You get a lower rate on your power but they have the option of shutting you off during peak or emergency demand periods.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), June 20, 2001.

In order to protect ourselves from this government intrusion, we entirely wrapped our ac unit in aluminum foil dull side out. So far, it's worked.

-- Phil Abole (daytrader@hotbot.com), June 20, 2001.

Too darned bad that folks wanted the government to solve all their problems in the first place... I don't condone what they are planning, but if folks won't do for themselves, then they get what they deserve. I've got a lot sympathy for a state that does as much as CA to conserve energy, but they wouldn't do what was needed to bring in more.

People can't keep insisting that the government bail them out of their own short-sightedness and then complain that government is too big, too intrusive and too - whatever else we come up with. We want them to do all this stuff, and then we moan and groan over the intrusiveness of their actions. HAHAHAHA!!!

My biggest problem with the whole thing is that these folks (NOT just in CA, but ALL OVER the country) take the rest of us down with them. Short-sighted, ego-maniacal, greedy, lazy....... and WE have to pay for their hypocracy.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), June 20, 2001.

Gene, Terry and Gary, You are all wrong. I heard it on NPR It is a NEW Technology. It is not something anyone signs up for. I am sorry I started this thread now. If you had heard the program you would understand what my point was.

-- Evelyn B. in NY (peontoo@yahoo.com), June 20, 2001.

Evelyn..........I heard the program and I still don't know what your point was. I didn't hear ANYTHING that would let me to believe they were going to shut down power to undesirables. They know where the BIG POWER USERS are and to avoid a black out can shut them down. So what is the problem????

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), June 21, 2001.

Actually Evelyn, I am not wrong. We really do have a PEAK type program here and we really are signed up for it :-). Sorry, I couldn't resist. If you will look back at my post you will see that I wasn't saying that this is what you were talking about I was just commenting that we in Ohio have the same type of program that Oklahoma has.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), June 22, 2001.

-- (noneofyour@biz.com), July 13, 2001