I see many commercials especially now just before summer, from the power supplier, urging the customers to save power; by setting the AC temperature to “room temp” or turning off the water boiler. And I can’t understand why they would spend money on media to ask their customers to “buy less product”.
In: 11
So my dad actually works in the distribution control center for an electric utility. For one, despite popular conception, some companies do appreciate the climate impact of electricity generation. Coal and oil is on the decline, but still represents a major percentage of the grid’s generation capability. Additionally, those are usually the plants that get ramped up as demand spikes, because stuff like solar and wind don’t have the ability to increase production on demand. So they want to reduce demand to those dirtier, not-green generators.
Secondly, one only has to look at the history of California to see why reducing demand is good. There have been rolling blackouts there for decades, because everyone turns on their AC and strains the grid so much that breakers in the grid get tripped. That may sound like an inconvenience to you, but it could be life and death for old people in the middle of a heat wave, or it could interrupt power to critical infrastructure or facilities. And now the utility company has to shoulder the cost of getting the grid back online.
Latest Answers