I read an interesting article about rolling blackouts a while back on WSJ. It was during the time of the big blackout in the Northeast. Basically the article said that there is no way of shutting off power based on importance. Kids playing video games get cut off along with elevators trapped between floors. Why isn't there a system to cut off non-critical systems only, like entertainment systems, and leave refrigerators running, or air conditioners in homes with children or elderly? We need a scapel but we only have a meataxe.
theoretically they could do that...but it reaks of big brother no? if the power company was using BPL to monitor which devices were plugged into your sockets, it could send a signal to shut off different devices.