I had a “saver switch” on my air conditioning compressor that allowed the power company to disconnect my compressor for 20 minute intervals during peak usage. The switch was on the air conditioner when I bought the house. In exchange for interrupting my compressor I was to get a few bucks credit on my bill. Initially I saw a small credit during very hot summers, but stopped getting these credits for years and forgot about the switch. I came home from work one day two years and had a note on my door that the “saver switch” had been replaced. I called the power company and raised hell that they had installed this switch on my equipment without my express consent and I even filed a complaint with the state public utility commission. After a lot of phone calls I finally got the switch removed. In comparing my electric bills I found that my air conditioner was actually running less without this “saver switch”. I could never get an answer from the power company about how much additional control this switch gave them over using my air conditioner. For example could they arbitrarily shut off my cooling just because they said I didn't need cooling that day.
A central AC system actually uses less elec if you don’t turn it off and on.
It takes quite a while to cool your house down, but one it is it takes little to keep it cool.
It isn’t just the air in your home that has to be cooled, it’s everything in your home like furniture etc.
When you shut off the AC ( Like a smart meter would) while you are away at work, everything in your home heats up and your AC will run twice as much to cool it back down.
That hot furniture etc will set there radiating heat into the home for hours while your AC tries to cool your home back down.