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I signed up for such "brief" interruptions with our local power company when it first rolled out. A few weeks later they cut off AC the entire day during one o

I signed up for such "brief" interruptions with our local power company when it first rolled out. A few weeks later they cut off AC the entire day during one of the worst heat waves in the area. Customer service completely unresponsive. House temperature rose to the upper 90s on the lower level. I had it deactivated after that, and never reactivated it.

duxup 4y ago
Someone screwing up was my concern when I signed up but it has worked well for us.
- capitainenemo 4y ago
  Yeah, probably a bit safer in Minnesota too ;) AFAIK, there was no recourse either since it was sold as brief interruptions, but apparently it wasn't a screwup - they really had the option to just leave it off all day if the grid was really struggling. And, while I appreciated the need, I wasn't going to be the sacrificial lamb next time that avoided the rolling blackouts. At least in a rolling blackout I'd get some AC.
  - duxup 4y ago
    Yeah, if there is a program it has to be appealing and run well to work. Ours has worked well but going too long is just going to turn folks off big time. It would me for sure.
asoneth 4y ago
I'm curious who your power company is and how long ago that happened. If you're in the US do you happen to know if FERC got involved? Utilities and grid operators that run retail-level demand-response programs typically cycle air conditioning units by turning them on and off throughout the day or by setting the thermostat a few degrees higher in more modern systems. I've never heard of a demand response program completely shutting off anyone's air conditioning for more than an hour, that sounds like either a technical failure and/or a wildly incompetent demand response program. Either way it's frustrating because it gives responsibly managed demand response programs a bad reputation. Having said that, if the peaker plants are running full tilt and the demand response program isn't able to curtail enough usage then the next step is rolling blackouts. Is there a chance that's what happened, or did the rest of your power remain on?
- capitainenemo 4y ago
  Rest of power was fine, no rolling blackouts. Let me see if I can find any news articles from the time. I wasn't the only one it happened to, and apparently despite how it was sold, contract allowed for longer periods. [edit] https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2011-07-bge_flipflops_says_it_wont_aga-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2011-07-bge_flipflops...
  - asoneth 4y ago
    That's awful, if I had your experience I wouldn't use demand response either. Now I'm also curious whether your contract was directly with your utility or through a 3rd party energy supplier. Where I live the non-utility energy suppliers can be a bit dodgy and push misleading contracts on retail users but they're still somewhat regulated so I am skeptical a contract that allows them to completely shut down everyone's AC for the entire duration of a demand response event would be approved here. But I've heard horror stories about non-utility energy suppliers in other ISOs (like Texas' ERCOT) gouging customers, abruptly shutting down, or just generally being wildly incompetent.
    - capitainenemo 4y ago
      It was the standard state regulated area utility.
tehlike 4y ago
What was the duration of interruption for you?
- capitainenemo 4y ago
  basically the entire day. a little after sunrise as it warmed up, to after sunset. There was a couple of extremely brief intervals where it started back up, but basically an entire july day.

duxup 4y ago

Someone screwing up was my concern when I signed up but it has worked well for us.

capitainenemo 4y ago
Yeah, probably a bit safer in Minnesota too ;) AFAIK, there was no recourse either since it was sold as brief interruptions, but apparently it wasn't a screwup - they really had the option to just leave it off all day if the grid was really struggling. And, while I appreciated the need, I wasn't going to be the sacrificial lamb next time that avoided the rolling blackouts. At least in a rolling blackout I'd get some AC.
- duxup 4y ago
  Yeah, if there is a program it has to be appealing and run well to work. Ours has worked well but going too long is just going to turn folks off big time. It would me for sure.

asoneth 4y ago

I'm curious who your power company is and how long ago that happened. If you're in the US do you happen to know if FERC got involved? Utilities and grid operators that run retail-level demand-response programs typically cycle air conditioning units by turning them on and off throughout the day or by setting the thermostat a few degrees higher in more modern systems. I've never heard of a demand response program completely shutting off anyone's air conditioning for more than an hour, that sounds like either a technical failure and/or a wildly incompetent demand response program. Either way it's frustrating because it gives responsibly managed demand response programs a bad reputation. Having said that, if the peaker plants are running full tilt and the demand response program isn't able to curtail enough usage then the next step is rolling blackouts. Is there a chance that's what happened, or did the rest of your power remain on?

capitainenemo 4y ago
Rest of power was fine, no rolling blackouts. Let me see if I can find any news articles from the time. I wasn't the only one it happened to, and apparently despite how it was sold, contract allowed for longer periods. [edit] https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2011-07-bge_flipflops_says_it_wont_aga-story.html https://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-mtblog-2011-07-bge_flipflops...
- asoneth 4y ago
  That's awful, if I had your experience I wouldn't use demand response either. Now I'm also curious whether your contract was directly with your utility or through a 3rd party energy supplier. Where I live the non-utility energy suppliers can be a bit dodgy and push misleading contracts on retail users but they're still somewhat regulated so I am skeptical a contract that allows them to completely shut down everyone's AC for the entire duration of a demand response event would be approved here. But I've heard horror stories about non-utility energy suppliers in other ISOs (like Texas' ERCOT) gouging customers, abruptly shutting down, or just generally being wildly incompetent.
  - capitainenemo 4y ago
    It was the standard state regulated area utility.

tehlike 4y ago

What was the duration of interruption for you?

capitainenemo 4y ago
basically the entire day. a little after sunrise as it warmed up, to after sunset. There was a couple of extremely brief intervals where it started back up, but basically an entire july day.