Big Nanny Is Baking You

Great, more nanny news.  This time from Christian Science Monitor, they're trying to install regulators to control how much electricity you use.  Basically, this gizmo will limit the flow of juice to your house during peak use, usually days where heat or cold are their most extreme. 

The utility companies may be able to actually raise or lower your thermostat remotely.  Some of them want to install regulators on your wall sockets and other big appliances.  Yeah, your fucking wall sockets, your dishwasher!  They say that it'll be voluntary, of course.  But we know shit like this is too tempting for the government, they'll be wanting to put their hand on it too.

I like the hypothetical they ask here;

But can such watt-saving steps help save the planet? Yes, if they keep utilities from building more carbon-spewing power plants – especially the expensive kind that rev up only during peak hours. By many estimates, fossil-fuel power plants are likely to be the preferred source of electricity for years to come.

Oooooh, carbon spewing power plants.  Sounds menacing.  So why don't we build some nuclear power plants?  They don't emit carbon after all.  No, no! We can't do that, because that would mean people get to live in comfort without their betters making sure they don't do anything that Big Nanny would disapprove of. 

Something's got to give. And it may be consumer lifestyles.

My A/C just got cranked down another three degrees for that.  Maybe if the eco-freaks would have let us revamp the energy system when we needed to, we'd have a cleaner, bigger and more efficient energy grid, but noooooo, the enviro-cultists used everything at their disposal to grind progress in our energy grid to a halt, they succeeded and now, not only has it not expanded, its starting to become decrepit, and is facing much higher demand.  There are blackouts and brownouts in both the Northeast and California because our energy grid is so fucking outdated.

The cost of installing what's called advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) – with new meters alone priced up to $200 – may take years for utilities to recover. Many in the industry are balking at the up-front price tag, the technical challenges, and the uncertainty of consumer reaction to volatile prices and in-your-face meters.

Resistance?  From utilities AND consumers?  You mean, you think people won't like having every aspect of their lives controlled by the goverment cradle to grave?

Sensing resistance, Congress nudged utilities to adapt AMI in its 2005 energy law. Several states, especially California, are pushing it hard. At present, though, AMI is used in only about 6 percent of meters. State regulators need to be more aggressive in forcing utilities to give up the old practice of selling as much electricity as possible with flat-rate pricing and meters that consumers don't understand (and can't easily see). One idea is to "de-couple" a utility's profit from its electricity sales by guaranteeing a set rate of return.

 

Thank God we have the numbskulls in DC to start to set things right! 

So the writer thinks Big Nanny needs to crack down on the energy companies?  Fine, I think I need my A/C cranked to its lowest temp.  I'll be able to hang sides of beef and pork in here in a few hours.  Screw the Nannystaters. 

Nanny State:  Because some people only find joy in their life by sucking the joy out of the lives of others.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:57 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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