January 07, 2008
George Orwell's 1984 had nothing on California
And he's spying on -- and controlling -- the temperature in your house.
This is the biggest infringement in personal property rights I've ever seen -- and it's coming to Californians by the end of this month, unless people get seriously upset.
What should be controversial in the proposed revisions to Title 24 is the requirement for what is called a "programmable communicating thermostat" or PCT. Every new home and every change to existing homes' central heating and air conditioning systems will required to be fitted with a PCT beginning next year following the issuance of the revision.
Each PCT will be fitted with a "non-removable " FM receiver that will allow the power authorities to increase your air conditioning temperature setpoint or decrease your heater temperature setpoint to any value they chose. During "price events" those changes are limited to +/- four degrees F and you would be able to manually override the changes. During "emergency events" the new setpoints can be whatever the power authority desires and you would not be able to alter them.
In other words, the temperature of your home will no longer be yours to control. Your desires and needs can and will be overridden by the state of California through its public and private utility organizations. All this is for the common good, of course.
But the discomforts of compliance will fall unevenly across the state. Come the next heat wave, the elites might be comfortably lolling in La Jolla's ocean breezes or basking in Berkeley by the Bay, while the Central Valley's poor peons are baking in Bakersfield and frying in Fresno. California's coastal climate, where the elites live, seldom requires air conditioning.
[...]
How will the state ensure compliance and prevent free riders? As above, coastal elites are already free riders as they will see the benefits while paying none of the costs except for the higher first cost of a PCT. For initial construction or home remodeling, it will be one of those items a building inspector will check before signing a certificate of occupancy. Replacing one's mandated PCT with a bootleg unit from Nevada should be within the skill of most homeowners. A low powered FM transmitter might easily be devised to override the broadcast commands for low cost. Even a metal wire shield around your PCT could block its FM reception. Adding a window air conditioner or an electric space heater are other work-arounds as neither have requirements for PCTs - yet. Sweating for the common good is for the chumps.
The article goes on to note that this interference in the free market also disrupts the ability of power producers to build more plants, invent new sources of energy, much in the same way rent control destroys the incentive to create more housing.
But that's the least of it.
Are you in the least bit troubled by the concept of Big Brother seizing control of your thermostat? Will the same people who shriek about BushHitlerCheneyHallliburton on the federal level intruding into our lives, violating the Constitution, have the same level of outrage over this outrageous move by the extremists in Sacramento?
This is exactly the kind of thing George Orwell anticipated in 1984, with Big Brother in every subjects' home, watching, listening, controlling.
Outrageous.
Infuriating.
Revolting. In every sense of the word.
Speak up, folks.
Posted by Mike Lief at January 7, 2008 06:43 AM
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Comments
This will do as much for energy conservation as low-flow toilets and shower-heads have done for water conservation --- NOTHING!
For the "Common Good" is nothing more than a looter's slogan ---
Posted by: Red Girl in a Blue State at January 7, 2008 03:05 PM
Freedom is on the run in America today. They want to control our thermostats, take our guns, and ultimately control our minds. From movies to television commercials to public school books, the left wing communists are moving in a mass conspiracy to control our minds and move us into a social state like that of communist China.
Posted by: Big M at January 9, 2008 09:52 PM