I was thinking about this the other day when reading, as one tends to do over a nice lunch at the local Italian bistro with a pizza and a glass of red, a 2015 position paper on ‘Making the electricity system more flexible and delivering the benefits for consumers’. This was issued by Ofgem (the quango which regulates the energy market in the UK) at the start of the ongoing process to transform our energy market into one governed by “energy smart appliances”.
These, for those who have been paying attention, are electric devices (your fridge, your washing machine, your EV charger, etc.) which are able to respond to ‘load control’ signals issued through the internet, and thereby reduce or delay energy consumption. Or, to put it more bluntly, appliances which can be controlled remotely so as to limit how much electricity households are able to use. Coming soon to a kitchen near you.
The last time I wrote about this issue in substance was in 2023, not long before the Energy Act 2023 was enacted. That statute created the legal framework within which the use of energy smart appliances could be mandated and regulated. We now find ourselves entering the next stage: gradual implementation. A draft set of regulations, the Energy Smart Appliances Regulations 2026, is currently making its way through Parliament. This, we are told, is the “first phase“.
And so it goes. Better on the Continent, in far-eastern Europe, downunder or on the American continent? In a few isolated countries, yes, e.g. Hungary or El Salvador, plus there are signs Europe itself is starting to awaken from its duped state. Some hope. 🍿🍿🍿

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