Smarter Electric Grid Could Save Power

Wired has a timely story about putting more of the automated and non-automated decisions behind the use of electrical power into and around households. From the summary: "If the electric grid stops being just a passive supplier of juice, consumers could make choices about how and when to consume power. Power providers and tech companies are working to redesign the grid so you can switch off your house when high demand strains the system, or program your house or appliances to make that move." A similar story is featured right now on PhysOrg, highlighting a particular pilot project involving "smart meters" in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Comments

fine I'll say it

[ILuvRamen]

How idiotic is this? Yeah, I wanna go reset all my digital clocks every time I turn my house off. What a ridiculously stupid idea. But wait, there's more! It'd turn non-battery security alarm systems off when you're away. Not a good idea. If you turn your power off overnight and a fire starts, you can't turn on the lights to see how to get out. Just dumb.