The Cincinnati Beacon
Duke Energy: Big Brother is Watching You?
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
In an age where it is fashionable to go green, Duke Energy’s new money saving offering—the Power Manager—seems like a great steal. Here’s how it works: Duke puts a “switch” on the outside of your house, and during periods of peak energy consumption, they turn off your air conditioner for a few minutes each half-hour. The program is incentivized monetarily, as a way to lure people into using the service. But while this might help save energy consumption, is giving control of your home to a corporation the best solution?
To understand the lack of control the installation of this switch promotes, check out this exchange from the FAQ:
Q: What if I don’t want a Power Manager event to occur on a certain day?
A: You may opt out of a Power Manager event one day per calendar month – May through September.
Once you hand over control of the switch to Duke, they only give you the option of regaining control once a month—and only then with 24 hour notice!
Check out this one:
Q: What if my heating and air conditioning company’s service technician recommends that I have my switch disconnected or removed?
A: Please have the service technician call 1-877-392-4848 before allowing them to proceed.
So if you decide you don’t want the switch, you apparently have to call for permission!
Also, the idea of a vaguely defined “emergency” seems strange to me, too:
Q: At what times will my AC be cycled?
A: Power Manager is designed for summer days when demand for electricity reaches a peak. When these cycling events occur, they are most likely to be; Monday through Friday, mid-morning to early evening during the summer months of May through September. Your switch will not be activated on weekends or holidays, except in the event of a system emergency.
What is a “system emergency”?
As I said, I love the idea of a technical solution to reduce energy consumption, but I don’t understand why the switch should be controlled remotely by Duke Energy. It seems like they could just install switches and let home users decide for themselves how to set the timer.
(Hat tip to Citizens for a Better Norwood.)
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