Dunken donuts may say America runs on Dunkens, but in fact it runs on 10,663,013,700 kilowatt hours a day. Everyday people flip on light switches, microwave something, watch tv, use the phone, and even right now writing these words uses electricity. Electricity is consumed, as it is demanded. Which means it is up to each individual’s daily electrical decisions that makes up how much energy is supplied.
For the energy to get to every house hold and person’s fingers electricity must first be produced and then sent through the power grid. Here the energy is distributed to the many transformers that convert the volts into usable energy. Every day the energy companies know the least amount of energy to produce to supply everyone with energy. This is called the base load. This is important because everyday there will be energy needed to support daily life. But like the ocean there are points during the day in which energy usage is higher depending on the time/season/location. The highest point of energy usage is called peak usage time. This is important to be prepared for because if there is a large power surge the whole grid could get overused and crash.
For many people how electricity gets to their home or phone does not cross their minds. For big companies it is always a concern. Before long everyone will know where their energy is coming and appreciate it. As of right now the energy crisis is not on many peoples minds, but it will be.
To be productive and help lower the amount of energy people use they must pay attention to the demand response. Which is noticing when everyone is using, when during certain times of the day it is unnecessary, and how to conserve to prevent blackouts. This is very important for it creates a balance and consistency that can be lowered that will lower costs, prevent black outs, and to start making a change with the energy crisis.
What it means to follow a demand response program is to turn off lights when leaving the house, using air conditioners only when necessary, during peak usage hours decrease the amount of energy consumed, and to become conscience of irresponsible energy consumption. I feel if this is implemented we can lower the costs of energy, become more energy friendly, and prevent blackouts.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/demand-response.htm
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/category/demand-response/
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Demand+Response/