"(CNSNews.com) - The California Energy Commission has proposed requiring thermostats that allow the government to control the temperature of homes and businesses in case of high energy prices or shortages, a measure that some critics are calling "draconian."
The proposed regulations would require all residential and non-residential buildings to have a Programmable Communicating Thermostat (PCT).
The regulations state that "all PCTs shall be distributed with a non-removable Radio Data System (RDS) communications device ... which can be used by utilities to send price and emergency signals." For price events, thermostats can be offset by up to four degrees, but "customers shall be able to change the offsets and thermostat settings at any time during price events."
Upon receiving an emergency signal, "the PCT shall respond to commands contained in the emergency signal, including changing the setpoint by any number of degrees or to a specific temperature setpoint. The PCT shall not allow customer changes to thermostat settings during emergency events."
"This brings new meaning to the term 'climate control,'" said Peyton Knight, director of environmental and regulatory affairs at the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research."
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