[Noisebridge-discuss] interesting projects

[Casey Callendrello]

On 11/30/2010 01:00 PM, Seth David Schoen wrote:
> Do utilities charge residential customers a different rate depending
> on the time of day?
>   

Some commercial tenants can get deep discounts on their power bill if
they agree to completely shut down their power draw within a certain
timeframe. So-called "load shedding" contracts are called upon during
periods of super-high demand.  I personally know of a few datacenters
that do this; they agree to switch to generator power as necessary. The
increased risk is well worth the money they save.

I've also seen commercial tenants install thermal energy stores. They
make ice at night, when power is cheap, and use it to cool the building
during the day.

Unfortunately, there are very, very few places where time-based meters
are available to residential customers.  Which is too bad; I recall
reading a study where a large utility found that putting a small sign in
customer houses that displays the current price of electricity was a
sufficient psychological "reminder" to cut down on energy use.