Re: Not so smart!
"In other countries, "load shedding" is used, i.e., power cuts."
Interruptible tariffs (cheaper energy for large users who are prepared to reduce demand at relatively short notice) have been used in the UK for quite a while too, for gas as well as electricity, just not on a domestic basis.
When demand menagement via interruptible tariffs and voltage reductions was insufficient, there wasn't much option except wide area load shedding via wide area disconnections.
See e.g. the day a few years ago when Longannet and Sizewell both had unplanned outages within a few minutes of each other, and there were wide-area non-selective blackouts affecting hundreds of thousands of electricity customers in various parts of the UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7423169.stm
Now work out what smart meters with a remotely addressable off switch might bring to the table.
Rather more recently, in 2016 for example, Eggborough was asking for £2500 per MWh because there was a likelihood that demand would come close to exceeding supply. (Normally, £50 per MWh would be more typical ).
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/eggborough-power-station-wins-12-month-reprieve-1-7723522
Biting the hand that feeds IT
