Here is a video from a nice youtube channel that combines entertainment with education.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f9GpMWdvWIIf you didn't watch, it explains the potential for using the heat storage capacity of houses to buffer energy for reducing peak loads on the grid and for buffering renewable energy fluctuations. This can be achieved by using networked devices like the so called smart thermostats that dynamically time shift energy consumption from heating and cooling in the home to low-power-demand periods of the day like late into the night.
It's a very efficient scheme, but reality will look very different. Technical optimization of this type produce a value add which could be used for the benefit of the end user like the video describes it, but that value add is going to be captured by capitalists instead. They will use any of these efficiency gains to reduce their investment-cost in fixed capital like power-transmission-lines and generators. They will not do stuff like improve the grid capacity, they will maximize switching off low income users as long as the existing capacity is enough to not inconvenience all the rich people that will pay higher rates. It will create a divide in society for the ability to use energy.
But minimizing cost and maximizing profitability at the expense of end users is not the only abuse vector. It allows for energy use profiling, which causes all sorts of privacy violations. These will have consequences like the power company being able to find out about your "inflexible power demands" where you will pay the higher electricity price no matter what. Do you like to brew hot caffeinated been juice in the morning ?, well get ready to have your addiction monetized!
This system also gives Capitalists the ability to influence demand. Capitalists do not want to sell commodities for low prices with low profit margins they want to sell for high prices with high profit margins. So what will capitalists do with the ability to control electricity demand, they will remotely switch on stuff until demand causes the prices for electricity to reach the highest level the market will bare. If they can control your heater or cooler they will crank it up to eleven during a demand-troth. If they can they will switch on the heater and the AC at the same time so you don't notice a temperature difference, but
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.