Anonymous wrote:
No, this is not how it works. PEPCO automatically adjusts your thermostat by a certain number of degrees (decided by you when you sign up) during periods of high energy use from April to October. But you always can override PEPCO's adjustment by manually adjusting your thermostat yourself.

Am I permitted to "opt out" of a conservation period?
All customers are permitted two (2) opt outs during the cooling season. Participants who wish to override will need to call our Energy Wise Rewards Service Center at 1-866-353-5798.

Anonymous wrote:I got this in the mail a few weeks ago, and am debating about signing up.

Sounds like a good idea - the programmable thermostat, and the annual reward. Not really bugged by the fact that the AC will have to run a little higher.

Am I missing something? Anyone else planning to sign up for this?

Anonymous wrote:What bothers me about the program is that they say they will shut down your compressor during periods of high energey demand.

So if there's a big heat wave, and everyone has their A/C on all over town -- what happens now is PEPCO gets on TV and says "Hey everyone reduce A/C use, or we are going to have a brownout!" They also talk to large industrial users I think and try to get them to reduce A/C use. Maybe they close schools, some businesses, things like that? In some places they have rolling brownouts, I think, but I've never seen that happen here.

And some people comply but others don't. But you the individual get to decide whether to turn off your A/C or lower it.

If you sign up for the program though, andthere's a heat wave -- they just cut you off -- and you have no cotroll over how long, right? ANd they don't have to do all those other things, because you and a bunch of other people signed up to be the ones to lose power during a heat wave? So no brownouts, no appeals to people to reduce energy usage, etc.

It doesn't sound like something I want to do.

Anonymous wrote:Had it installed on Friday... I am very disappointed. I want to withdraw from the program immediately. Now Sunday, the temperature in my house was at 79 degrees, so I turned on my AC which I keep at a constant 73 degrees. My AC never kicked on, it appeared to automatically go into "recycling mode" (i.e. recycle the air already in the house). However, the air I had is my house was hot. I checked the device to see if the "light was on," that means we're in conservation mode and that's when AC will recycle COOL air throughout your home to maintain comfort. Well, the light was NOT on, and by the way it's May and the program is not to start until June. However, as the day went on, and more people came over my house, the temperature rose to a uncomfortable 84 degrees. That was over 8 hours ago, and now I'm at 83 degrees... the fan has been running constantly, compressor has not yet turned on. I'm highly disppointed. I wish I did more research before opting to be apart of this program. Like the previous entry, you can regulate you own thermostat. I like control, and right now I'm not in control. I can't stand it!