existentialist
Tired and unemotional
There's a way they could have done this without smart metering, and all that goes with it. I think I've probably mumbled about it before, but this...This is what smart metering was designed for, the cost of electricity between about 2300 and 0500 is effectively zero and conversely at peak time very costly.
If you can shift usage, you don’t need to build so many power stations.
This is why smart metering is a good thing.
Dynamic Demand
Dynamic Demand is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes new energy technologies to tackle climate change.
www.dynamicdemand.co.uk
GB Fuel type power generation production
GridWatch | Live statistic of UK National Electricity grid by type of generation | Solar PV power Generation | Coal Stations output in Gigawatts | Wind Output Gigawatts | Nuclear energy output |Biomass power generation Output
gridwatch.co.uk
Dynamic demand control. Some very cheap electronics in appliances like fridges and water heaters can monitor the grid frequency and only switch on when it's above a particular value. Grid frequency changes - very slightly - according to the balance between load and supply, and by turning off appliances that don't need to be on all the time, controlled within the appliance itself, you can keep a better balance, allowing the grid to supply power for things that have to be on (lights, computers, etc) and only using the non-continuous loads when the grid has capacity.
You could then use smart metering to charge less for electricity drawn at low-demand times if you want to build in a financial incentive.