Posted on 09/08/2022 9:15:19 AM PDT by EBH
For the time ever, Xcel Energy locked the smart thermostats of thousands of Colorado customers on Tuesday because of what it called an energy emergency.
Xcel started a program six years ago, called the AC Rewards program, in which customers get rebates in exchange for allowing Xcel to adjust their thermostat on the hottest summer days to ease strain on the electrical grid. Participating customers need to sign up for the program, and about 22,200 have done that in Colorado.
Tuesday was the first time that Xcel locked those thermostats, a company spokesperson said.
The grid experienced an energy emergency that day, due to high temperatures and a unit at a power plant that went offline. The company was not selling energy out of state, Xcel said.
Xcel customers who have certain types of smart thermostats can opt into the AC Rewards Program. They get a onetime $100 enrollment bill credit and $25 every year they participate in the program.
“We understand the need to keep cool on hot summer days and work hard to provide our customers with the energy they rely on," Xcel said in a statement provided to 9NEWS. "Our customers have a choice to participate in this voluntary program that helps them manage energy demands while receiving cash for their involvement."
Xcel says on its website that "control events" – when Xcel makes adjustments to the thermostats of participating customers – can happen at anytime during the summer.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
$100 and $25/year doesn’t sound like a lot.
Well, they ARE all union guys...
“So why install an expensive meter in our home or homes of similar customers?”
You miss the point.
The meters save them from driving and getting out of the truck, avoiding the vicious dogs, climbing over the hedge, wiping off the dirty meter, squinting to read the arrows, writing down the readings any transcribing the numbers into the database.
It's probably easier to replace the thermostat. That being said, it's a simple procedure. Low voltage lines and a few different color wires with nice neat labels on the instructions where they go. Took me longer to open the dang plastic container holding it than it did to wire it up.
play stupid games, win stupid prizes ...
btw, any thermostat is easily fooled by simply setting up a hairdryer on a timer to blow hot air on it from a distance ... even simpler is a small portable heater that has its own builtin thermostat ... they cost about $30.00 ... anybody too stupid to fool a thermostat deserves to roast in the heat ...
Are you too lazy to get up and adjust the thermostat yourself?
I just had a 37 and 27 year old Carrier heat pumps replaced this last June. The 37 year old was leaking and parts were not out there. The 27 year old was chronically costing me between $200-$400 each year and the HVAC company made me an offer I couldn’t refuse to replace both.
The installer asked about smart thermostats and I said pass. Programmable or old type but no smart anything. My July power usage dropped like a rock from last years, but my bill went up nearly $20 monthly FJB!
FJB...
Yes, no one takes control of my manual thermostat.
“Are you too lazy to get up and adjust the thermostat yourself?”
My thermostat was 25 miles away.
“BTW, name another business that asks you to not buy/use their product(s), “
-———————NOT A BUSINESS——————
Palo Alto was asked to cut off power by the Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), a not-for-profit organization that represents numerous municipal utilities and that serves as an intermediary between these utilities and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which manages electricity flow. At about 5:17 p.m., CAISO issued an order known as an “energy emergency alert 3 (EE3),” a step that indicates that power outages may need to be implemented.
>“Lock this!”
>Disconnects wire leads from thermostat and “short wires” connection to start the A/C.
Whomever knows how to “desmart a thermostat” needs to make a video on Youtube or Rumble and make a few thousand.
“hurrrr it’s voluntary!”
I wish I was so stupid that I couldn’t think more than one step ahead.
I have both Nest and Ecobees in different houses. I much prefer the Ecobees, will probably strip the two out of a house I’m selling to replace the Nest and a generic non-smart in another house.
No way in Hades I’m giving a utility the ability to control them without a fight.
Oh, and I hate Google and minimize my interaction whenever I can.
But I really do think the Ecobee superior.
Exactly...anything you have in your home that is a SMART anything is infringing on your right to privacy.
You are not just being monitored outside your home or on your phone.
Not many things as basic as home heat. I might let them delay my subscription to TV Guide for $100. Or maybe even cancel and reschedule my haircut.
Achtung, Xcell!
Dude, I'm too lazy to pull out my phone and use the Smart thermostat's own app from my recliner to lower the temperature.
This started appearing in government and public discourse in the Carter Administration. Jimmy bought the Harvard Energy Project administrative state line hook, line and sinker. After all these were the smartest people in America.
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