#Demand Response

Demand response is the arcane ritual by which utilities attempt to mollify peak electricity demand through the meek compliance of subscribers. Under the benign slogan “please conserve,” air conditioners shriek in protest and industrial motors seethe in silence. In the name of economic optimization, powerless consumers are summoned each evening to reduce consumption as if offering themselves on the altar of peak shaving. Cloaked in the virtuous mantle of environmental stewardship, they become unwitting serfs to the grid’s whims.