Editorial: I Want My Smart Grid

By Bart King I write in an office behind my house, and the comings and goings of my two cats are for the most part the only changes in my work environment. Thus, I was startled when a stranger knocked on my door a few weeks ago. It was a technician who had come to install a demand response device on my home air conditioner. About a month earlier, I signed up for Georgia Power’s Power Credit program, which gave me a $20 credit on my electric bill in exchange for the right to control my home’s air conditioner on the hottest days of the summer. So, next August, when the mercury is pushing into the high 90s, Georgia Power will remotely activate a load-control switch, and instead of running for 15-minute “on” cycles, the compressor will only run for 5 minutes at a time. The information pamphlet says my house may be a couple degrees warmer on the handful of days the switch is used, and I’ll get an additional $2 for my trouble each time. If enough people sign up for the program the utility can control the peak demand for electricity on the hottest days, reducing the […]

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