Smart grids : A human experiment

During winter evenings, when electricity consumption tends to peak, the local energy distribution company in the Southern French town of Carros can remotely – and temporarily – turn off the heating system of a few hundred residents to ease the load on the power grid. Smart technology and innovative equipment allow the company to have this unprecedented access into people’s homes as part of a multi-year EU-supported smart grid pilot project. But there is also an opt-out button that comes…