Denver Residents Prevented from Using Air Conditioning Due to ‘Energy Emergency’
Last Tuesday, thousands of Denver residents were met with a message of “energy emergency” on their smart thermostats when they attempted to cool their homes down. Xcel Energy, a Colorado based energy provider, prevented 22,000 Denver residents from turning the temperature down for multiple hours.
The company explained that the customers all signed up for their volunteer program, Colorado AC Rewards. Emmett Romine, VP of customer solutions and innovation at Xcel, commented on the situation, “It’s a voluntary program. Let’s remember that this is something that customers choose to be a part of based on the incentives,” though customers claim they were not prepared to be locked out of their thermostat all together.
Customers receive a $100 credit for enrolling in the program and $25 annually, but Romine said customers also agree to give up some control to save energy and money and make the system more reliable.
Denver Channel 7
The company’s website claims, “by participating in AC Rewards, adjustments are made to your smart thermostat during the hottest summer days. When the demand for electricity is the highest, you’ll help us manage these peaks and ease the strain on the electrical grid. You’ll be cut back on the time your central air works to cool your home with control events.” So, what exactly are these customers paying for, if not to use their air conditioning on the hottest of days?
Dozens of customers took to social media to complain about the situation, some stating that their homes reached temperatures of 88 degrees during the so-called “energy-emergency.”
It isn’t hard to understand why the company is having an emergency, however. We have seen this happen time and time again. The city of Denver made it a goal to run entirely off of renewable energy by 2030, and Xcel Energy aims to have net-zero emissions by 2050. But just like in California, when companies and cities try to switch to all-renewable sources of energy before the infrastructure is build to support the demand, residents experience power black-outs and other supply problems. Companies do this to claim their virtue-signaling prize from media outlets that will praise them for their “commitment to the environment” while the paying customer falls to the wayside.
Green energy might work, eventually, but the country is nowhere near ready to made the switch immediately, like so many politicians want to do. Until they realize that energy from natural gas and oil is a necessary means to an end, this residents in leftist cities will likely continue to suffer under the green policies.
