From the Big Brother Department:

According to a story in the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is recruiting participants in it new “Power Partners Project” which will allow “customers to receive goal-setting and performance-tracking tools, personalized energy-efficiency suggestions and expert advice.” That’s the carrot. “The new TEP Power Partners Project is being funded through a $500,000 U.S. Department of Energy Smart Grid Data Access Award and administrative funding from the Governor’s Of f ice of Energy Policy, with matching funding from TEP and Colorado-based Tendril.” Apparently Tendril is a company that manufactures smart meter devices.

The stick is that the program involves installation of “smart meters” and a control on your air conditioner. This allows TEP to remotely turn off your air conditioner or adjust your thermostat during periods of high electricity demand. During a pilot program last summer, TEP exercised this ability eight times among participants.

This program is made necessary by Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) and this phase is called demand side management (DSM). According to the Arizona Corporation Commission: “Arizona’s public utilities will be required to achieve annual energy savings of at least 22%, measured in kWh, by 2020, with the savings to increase incrementally as a percent of retail energy sales in each prior calendar year to reach that goal.”

One of the ways to achieve DSM is through use of the so-called “smart grid” and “smart meters.” Smart meters placed on your house or business will allow the electric company to monitor and control your electricity use via radio/internet-controlled commands to your meter. If you use too much air-conditioning, for instance, the electric company will be able to turn it off.

Because these systems are controlled over the internet, they are vulnerable to mischief by hackers who may decide to turn off the A/C in a shopping mall or neighborhood.

You can sign up for the program at https://enroll.teppowerpartners.com/ Be sure to read the customer agreement. One of the caveats is: “I understand that it is my responsibility to manage my electricity consumption and that participating in this pilot will not guarantee lower bills.”

See also:

Petition to Arizona legislature – Dump Renewable Energy Mandates

Will you let the power company control your air conditioner?

In the news today we find that Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) is instituting a voluntary program (so far) that would allow TEP to control your air conditioner during periods of peak use. In this scheme, participants “will receive a new thermostat or upgrades to their current one and accompanying equipment to monitor and adjust their home’s temperature remotely” over the internet. “In exchange, participants will give the electric company authority to adjust the temperature of their home by up to 4 degrees.” During the trial period, customers will be notified in advance and have the option to override the remote manipulation.

This is part of Renewable Energy Standards (RES) mandated by the Arizona Corporation Commission in 2006. That standard requires electric utilities to generate at least 15% of electricity from “renewable resources” by 2025. RES also requires a growing percentage of the total resource portfolio to come from distributed generation, i.e., residential or non-utility owned installations. The distributed energy requirement started at 5% of the total portfolio in 2007 and grew to 30% of the total renewable mix after this year.

The TEP program is part of a scheme called Demand Side Management and the so-called “smart grid,” another mandate by the Arizona Corporation Commission. A similar program is being instituted by Arizona Public Service in Phoenix. “Arizona’s public utilities will be required to achieve annual energy savings of at least 22%, measured in kWh, by 2020, with the savings to increase incrementally as a percent of retail energy sales in each prior calendar year to reach that goal.” “Energy savings” mean rationing electricity. And given that the air conditioners will be controlled over the internet, the system is vulnerable to attack by hackers who could wreak havoc with air conditioning systems in large buildings or in participating neighborhoods.

If you stay in the program through September, 2012, TEP is offering a $50 bribe for your participation in the brave new world.

And follow the money: Fannie Mae, the biggest U.S. mortgage finance company, holds Patent No. 6,904,336, for a “System and Method for Residential Emissions Trading,” which is the meter that would be attached to your house. Bloomberg reports this is a potential $22 billion dollar market. Maybe that’s why governments are creating a market to sell you something you don’t need.

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Related posts:

Arizona Corporation Commission May Ration Electricity

Smart Grid may ration electricity

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has approved rules that require public electric utilities to design Demand Side Management (DSM) programs which ACC claims are cost effective and promote energy efficiency, load management, or demand response. “Arizona’s public utilities will be required to achieve annual energy savings of at least 22%, measured in kWh, by 2020, with the savings to increase incrementally as a percent of retail energy sales in each prior calendar year to reach that goal,” says the ACC press release. One of the stated reasons for this program is to mitigate the need to build more generation and transmission infrastructure. But as population grows, we will have to do that anyway.

I am all for voluntary conservation. In fact, I have a time-of-use meter on my house which allows me to choose when to run certain appliances to get lower electric rates in off-peak periods. However, the ACC program is a Big Brother command-and-control program that may allow utilities to decide when and how much electricity you can use . An Arizona Republic story says “APS (Arizona Public Service Company) is planning to test a demand-response program in which the utility will control homes’ air-conditioners, raising the thermostat a notch or cycling the unit on and off to minimize peak demand.” This so-called “smart grid” system is subject to attack by hackers who could wreak havoc with air conditioning systems in large buildings or neighborhoods, for instance. In a March 9 interview with U.S. News & World Report, Obama advisor Carol Browner said that with the smart grid, “Eventually, we can get to a system when an electric company will be able to hold back some of the power so that maybe your air conditioner won’t operate at its peak.” And strangely enough, Fannie Mae, the biggest U.S. mortgage finance company, holds Patent No. 6,904,336, for a “System and Method for Residential Emissions Trading,” which is the meter that would be attached to your house. reports this is a potential $22 billion dollar market. Maybe that’s why governments are creating a market to sell you something you don’t need.

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