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Smarter Electric Grid Could Save Power

Posted by timothy on from the you-should-return-for-a-refund-if-it-doesn't dept.

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.

2 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. Re:fine I'll say it by ILuvRamen · · Score: 1, Troll

    more like power plants are idiotically designed to not be scalable and when they fail to supply enough power, they blame the customers. It's not like it came as some big shock that people use more power during the day than at night. They knew it, they didn't plan for it when they built the plant, so it's 100% their fault and they should fix it without forcing the customers to fix it for them.

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  2. Re:Duh... by Ed+Avis · · Score: 1, Troll

    What incentive do you the householder have to get one of these 'smart' meters? Isn't it just annoying that it cuts out your dishwasher for the convenience of the power company? Why not bypass it by plugging the dishwasher into the always-on circuit?

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