California Wants to Control Your T'Stat

[Kurt Ullman]

Of course with Clinton the problem was that he pretty much ALWAYS elected. The dude never did have a real job for any length to time (g).

[Twayne]

You obviously don't live there, that's why.

[RicodJour]

No? No to what? The rest of your post gets no argument from me. Sounds sensible.

R

[Ralph Mowery]

At one time we had something like that. The power company would turn off the power up to 30minuits (they said) and give you so much off the power bill. One summer they would flash on the TV screen for people to cut off things to conserve power.

The people did and then at the end of the year the power company said we did not use enought power so they wanted to raise the rates..

Most of all this is so they can keep the money and not build more power plants to make up for the increased usage as the population and industry gets larger.

A few years back the aluminuim company was making more selling electricity at the local plant than it was selling aluminum. They built a system of lakes and dams to do make the electricity for the aluminum process. They drained all the lakes in the area to do that even though we were in a drought year.

[HeyBub]

That's not a sex offense. At most it's offensive sex. Almost any woman, starlet or no, would be thrilled to be groped by Arnold.

Look at Clinton. Of the thousands of women he's molested only a dozen or so have complained.

[Jim Yanik]

Kurt Ullman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

yes,if BJ Clinton does it,it's 'nothing','trivial',but if a Republican does it,it's a major character flaw disqualifying one from public service.

[Jim Yanik]

Kurt Ullman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

well,we know the Clintons suck at law. BJ was disbarred (temporarily) for perjury,and Hillary obstructed the Whitewater law process. ("lost" files that miraculously reappeared later)

[JoeSpareBedroom]

What a miracle that you chimed in. We were talking about fellas who get no pussy, and are jealous of anyone who does. So, they invent all sorts of stories, like "thousands of women he's molested".

Thanks for illustrating my point.

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Hmmm........3000 miles off, eh.......

O.K You are in JERSEY! and you are obviously gay so your shirt is probably something festive......I'll say lime green?

I'll pass.....

[Dr. Hardcrab]

I think California is beautiful. Been there at least 10 times. But the laws they have there are reGOD-DAMNdiculous!!!

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Try this link:

[HeyBub]

You're welcome. Glad to be of assistance.

And I didn't invent the story; I saw it on the internet. If you can disprove it, I'd be willing to evaluate your claim.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

No you didn't.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Sat 12 Jan 2008 10:41:58a, Twayne told us...

The concept isn't exactly new. Back in NE Ohio where I used to live, it was common in all-electric communities to offer (not mandate) load balance controls that could/would allow outside remote control of power to certain devices within the home. That was most often the hot water heater, but could be applied to other high-usage appliances. For those who chose to use it, their power rate was lower than for those who did not.

[Rick Blaine]

That's what I remembered as well. I recently moved into a new house with 2 central air systems, so I was looking forward to taking advantage of such a deal. Imagine my surprise when I called the local electric company and found out their "deal":

If I'd agree to allow the a/c to be shut off up to 12 times a summer for up to 4 hours at a time, they'd pay me $25 at the end of the summer. No discount on the kwh rate paid.

Furthermore, a new fee of $1.75/month has been added to everyone's monthly bill to pay for this generous offer, making the net savings essentially zero for those who took advatage and raising everyone else's rates.

I passed.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Sat 12 Jan 2008 09:20:41p, Rick Blaine told us...

OUCH!

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Did commercial work in Wash DC and we had a call from a restaurant on Capital Hill with no A/C. Went there and found that it was the "load management" box keeping the unit from running. I told him he needed to have the power company take it off. "OH, NO! I get $250 off my electric bill each year!"

"O.K. How much money did you LOSE at lunch today when everyone that walked in turned around and walked out?"

"TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!"

Told him he had to call the power company....

[Beachcomber]

It's a cultural thing.

Americans generally believe that you can use as much as you want, and can pay for. For many, It's kind of a birthright that nobody really thinks about unless there is a serious attempt to ration it or take it away.

Other countries don't have it so good. In France, for instance, the device they call a Disjouncter will cut your power if you try to use too much of it (depending on the class of service you fit into). It doesn't matter if you system has the capacity or you otherwise can pay.

We kind of pay lip service to conservation and feel good about switching to CFL lights and installing solar panels. But, when the peaktime crunch comes, it's usually during the summer when everyone wants to crank their A/C to the max.

There is no blanket shortage of energy.

When you are not operating at peak demand, from a utility standpoint, conservation is of lessor importance... Every additional kiloWatt consumed is a kiloWatt that can be produced and transmitted at a profit. It's in your utilities interest to sell as many of them as possible.

It's only when the peak load stresses the system to maximum capacity that conservation becomes worthwhile (again from the utility standpoint). Generation, transmission, and distribution systems are operating a full capacity and it becomes very expensive to minimize the transmission bottlenecks and add additional generation capacity.

Beachcomber

[HeyBub]

That, and the utility has to bring the less-efficient generation stations online or having to buy it on the spot market. They may actually LOSE money by selling the additional power.