> In times of overgeneration, fleets of water heaters can be switched on to absorb excess power, and in times of undergeneration, they can be switched off to sh

> In times of overgeneration, fleets of water heaters can be switched on to absorb excess power, and in times of undergeneration, they can be switched off to shed load and redistribute the existing electricity on the grid I don't want my public utility deciding when I should and should not be using my water heater. They don't know me, and they don't know my wants or needs. A much better answer: provide consumers with high frequency data regarding current electricity prices and a common API for devices, like water heaters, to utilize that information. The water heater can pay attention to it's owners needs (either learned or configured) as well as electricity prices and optimize to reduce costs while never running out of hot water. The same goes for freezers, electric car chargers, battery systems, really anything where power can be used at varying times. This has the disadvantage that customers don't have easy-to-follow rules regarding what the price will be in the future. It has the advantage, however, that consumer demand will rise and fall to meet supply, leveling out (and lowering) prices for all. And I can avoid letting a public utility I don't trust controlling devices in my house.