This is a good example of leftist thinking, as this stupid assistant professor signed up for this and let them install equipment on her HVAC, to do this very thing in a heatwave taxing the grid. And beyond her dumb carbon footprint reasoning, she could set the thermostat higher herself, and this program only gets you a $40 credit each October, and maybe a signup credit. Though, how much does it cost to have their equipment removed? And this is just like leftists, whining incessantly for something that was their own doing, as leftists never like the consequences of their actions. Enjoy the lake of fire, especially since you thought 79F was too hot. And it’s also interesting that this scheme keeps the HVAC fan running to fool you that they didn’t kill your A/C, which is dumb because you can just use ceiling fans and not wear out your HVAC blower. And you know the leftists want to force this nonsense on everyone too.
“I just wanted to set it to 75, something very reasonable so my daughter could fall asleep.”
By Hannah Nightingale
A Colorado energy company is facing backlash after locking a woman out of her thermostat during a heat wave, prohibiting her from turning the temperature down any further.
University of Colorado Boulder assistant professor Kyri Baker said that when she tried to turn her home thermostat down from 79 to 75, she received a message from Xcel Energy saying that she would not be able to because of stress on the energy grid. This came during a heat wave in the state, with temperatures reaching 100 over the weekend and staying in the 90s through Monday and Tuesday.
Baker said, “I just wanted to set it to 75, something very reasonable so my daughter could fall asleep.”
The message she received stated, “To conserve energy in your community due to stress on the regional energy grid, you cannot set your temperature to be lower.”
Baker had opted into Xcel’s Saver’s Switch program, which credits customers $40 per month if they allow the energy company to control their homes’ temperatures and cut their air conditioning back during peak heat times to conserve power grid capacity.
Xcel Energy explains that the program may be activated “on a few hot summer days a year,” and that air conditioning during this time is switched off and on in 15 to 20 minute intervals. “However, the fan stays on, circulating already-cooled air throughout your home.”
“Most customers don’t even notice when Saver’s Switch is activated. On control days, Saver’s Switch is typically activated between 2 pm and 7 pm,” the company states.
Baker said that while she initially enrolled in the program to offset her carbon footprint, she had not been aware that it would leave her unable to adjust her own thermostat. “It was kind of annoying. I’m doing my part to help the grid, and I’m getting penalized for it in some way,” she said.