Wait, the government did something intelligent ? Will wonders never cease...
Consumers in the UK could save billions of pounds thanks to major changes in the way electricity is made, used and stored, the government has said. New rules will make it easier for people to generate their own power with solar panels, store it in batteries and sell it to the National Grid. If they work, consumers will save £17bn to £40bn by 2050, according to the government and energy regulator Ofgem.
The rules are due to come into effect over the next year. They will reduce costs for someone who allows their washing machine to be turned on by the internet to maximise use of cheap solar power on a sunny afternoon. And they will even support people who agree to have their freezers switched off for a few minutes to smooth demand at peak times. They'll also benefit a business that allows its air-conditioning to be turned down briefly to help balance a spell of peak energy demand on the National Grid.
Among the first to gain from the rule changes will be people with solar panels and battery storage. At the moment they are charged tariffs when they import electricity into their home or export it back to the grid.
The tiny energy savings of millions of people and firms will be pulled together into packages by traders, who will offer substantial chunks of energy saving to the National Grid at the click of a computer. So instead of predicting peak demand then building power stations to meet it, energy managers will be able to trade in Negawatts - negative electricity.
So finally a good case being made for the hitherto pointless, "internet of things" concept. However :
Some will urge a degree of caution amongst the enthusiasm: the more the energy industry embraces the digital age, the more vulnerable it will be to hacking. Recent reports suggest that Russian hackers may already have tried to compromise the system. Ofgem says the new rules will put measures in place to combat interference.
More information needed on that last point. Someone should design an automatic, self-ejecting plug so that after a single operation it's impossible to run a device without physically plugging it back in again.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40699986
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