Texas Power Companies Are Remotely Raising Temps on Residents' Smart Thermostats

LADWP (LA power provider) has a similar opt-in program for Nest owners with the following conditions:

How the program works

* We’ll adjust your connected thermostat(s) when summer electricity demand is at its highest to help decrease stress on the grid

* Prior to an event, we may lower your thermostat(s) by a few degrees to help maintain comfort during the actual event

* if the temperature in your home feels uncomfortable, you can opt out of an event at any time by adjusting your thermostat.

* You’ll receive a $60 e-gift card at the end of the season for participating.

Signing up nets you another $125 gift card.

> Turns out, some of them just didn’t read the fine print.

That...was the entire point of the Smart Savers Texas. I suppose they'd say the "fine print" of a mortgage being that you have to pay it back.

> “They’d been asleep long enough that the house had already gotten to 78 degrees,” English said. “So they woke up sweating.”

For my entire childhood, that's my parents' thermostat in Florida: 78F.

For anyone who feels the temperatures discussed in the article are oppressive, I recommend they try to spend more time outdoors for a month if they are not constrained doing so by debilitating health problems. When I used to live within an urban core with a greenbelt interlacing the neighborhoods, I regularly walked/jogged outside in 37º C (98º F), 90% humidity. It was tough the first few weeks, but the human body is highly adaptable. Strongly YMMV, as some people just cannot stand the outdoors, just like some are supertasters.

Apart from the benefits of not being dependent upon A/C for comfort, I found out when I vacationed in a tropical region I really enjoyed mixing with the locals in outdoor cafés, with no distractions from the heat and humidity (mosquitoes are another story, I just slather up 3M Ultrathon and will take the increased cancer risk consequences later in my life /s).

The only downside I could identify: I had to carry around a jacket year-round, because what most people associate with "normal indoors temperature", especially in offices, felt quite cold to me. Which is ironic, because my tolerance of cold weather also increased. I suspect the key variable is either humidity, and I'm just more comfortable now in high-humidity environments, and low-humidity offices somehow raise my perceived sensitivity to the temperature. Or just that I'm not as physically active inside an office (part of the reason I love to WFH, as I can take short breaks outdoors to keep myself invigorated).

Apparently when they signed up as an IOT device, in the fine print there was a clause that allowed rampdown of power consumption if and when there was a power shortage - you got a quid pro quo discount. Users can opt out at anytime. I imagine a number of people will now opt out.

Utilities have been doing this for a while, even without smart thermostats.

Customers who opt-in get a meter with a relay wire that temporarily disables their AC compressor(s), whenever the utility sends it a signal.

While I think that blaming the consumer never works because voting with your money is a myth, I believe it's a good thing to help people get a better baseline. I don't know exactly how 78F translates to the real temperature in his house, but it seems reasonable. Same with sugar tax or water fluoridation, consumers are uninformed and are taken advantage of by their primordial need for comfort. Give them back their freedom by time restricting Facebook too.

previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27557463

That is actually fake news

At a minimum, misleading clickbaiting headline