Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

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> Not sure on that part, but the specific period isn't so much at issue as that somebody else has the privilege of deciding when I am allowed not to swelter.

You signed up for a discount for them to have permission to adjust your AC condensing demand run time when necessary, correct? I have never heard of a mandatory residential load shedding program in the US, but that doesn't mean they might be out there.

https://bgesavings.com/programs/ac/

> BGE‘s PeakRewards Air Conditioning program helps prevent the need for additional power plants, keep down the overall cost of electricity and ease the burden on Maryland’s electricity delivery system as the state’s population continues to grow. Plus, participants receive up to $100 in BGE bill credits each summer (June – September).

> The PeakRewards program is completely voluntary and is open to all BGE residential customers with central air conditioning or an electric heat pump in good working order, regardless of their choice of electricity supplier.

> You signed up for a discount for them to have permission to adjust your AC condensing demand run time when necessary, correct?

No. You're right that the program is (currently) voluntary; I haven't volunteered, not least because I run the AC at 76°, I have and know how to use ceiling fans, and most months the bill barely breaks $150 if that - my house is 140 years old, and while that's not enough especially in Baltimore to say that its survival proves it is well designed, it is well designed.

This is targeted at two groups of people: fools who paid far too much for far too little and ended up house-poor in a place built last year that doesn't know how to stay cool, and folks for whom $100 a month makes a huge difference. One of those groups has my sympathy, especially because I expect they'll be first and hardest hit when these programs cease being voluntary because the state isn't investing enough in generation capacity and the city isn't investing enough in grid maintenance.

So you haven't even tried the program but you say it causes people to "swelter"? How do you know? And the rebate is "up to" $100, not $100.

There's occasionally rolling blackouts. Those are mandatory load shedding.

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