Thousands of energy customers in Colorado recently discovered the downside of their “smart home” technology as they found themselves locked out of adjusting the thermostat during a heat wave due to a reported “energy emergency.”
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should — this is an adage I’d apply to the implementation of a wide range of technological advancements into everyday life since the inception of the modern age.
On Tuesday, Xcel customers in the Rocky Mountain State were helpfully informed by their phones and smart thermostats that they could not adjust their AC temps even as the heat outside reached in the 90s.
Tony Talarico told MGH-TV that when he tried to turn down the temperature on the unit of his partner’s home during peak hours, he saw the emergency message.
“Normally, when we see a message like that, we’re able to override it,” he explained. “In this case, we weren’t. So, our thermostat was locked in at 78 or 79.”
Dozens of other reporters shared that they’d had the same experience on social media, with some reporting being stuck in houses with the AC locked in at 88.
The reason?
Emmett Romine, Xcel’s vice president of customer solutions and innovation, told MGH that this was due to the “voluntary” program that these customers “choose to be a part of based on the incentives.”
These “smart” thermostat owners had opted to sign up for Xcel’s Colorado AC Rewards programs — exchanging control over their systems to help save energy for a mere $100 credit to sign up and $25 annually.
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“So, it helps everybody for people to participate in these programs. It is a bit uncomfortable for a short period of time, but it’s very, very helpful,” Romine said.
Is anyone surprised that the reason thousands of energy customers got locked out of adjusting the temperatures in their homes during a heat wave is due to enticing rewards offered for “smart” thermostats that are “helpful” for the environment?
No. No, not at all.
“A smart thermostat provides an easy and convenient way to manage your home’s heating and cooling comfort, as well as costs. Now, it’s easier than ever for you to experience a convenient, energy-saving lifestyle with long-term benefits,” the program’s website read.
“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,” it also notes, adding that while customers have the ability to opt out, “on rare occasions, system emergencies may cause a control event that cannot be overridden.”
Convenience and environmental do-goodery in exchange for control over the temperature of your own home? What could be more enticing to today’s average energy customer?
After decades of secular postmodern indoctrination, modern man has been convinced that a life free of discomfort, inconvenience, hard work and death is ultimately achievable if we just invent, innovate, implement and come up with the right strategy to control mankind.
They apply the same hopeful logic to the relentless messages from powerful people that with the right technology and mandatory implementation, we could stop the clock on perceived environmental disaster — heck, giving over control is the right thing to do, right?
In this case, the trouble of simply walking over to a thermostat and flipping a switch — a task that would have appeared to be nothing short of a miracle to people living less than 100 years ago in an already rapidly-modernized world, customers are willingly signing up to plug themselves into a real-life Smartnet that is an ideal grid for the tyrannical globalist “green” agenda.
At the end of the day, this is what becomes of a western world that has so decidedly rejected the biblical worldview in favor of cynical naturalistic secularism.
Instead of knowing that we are fallen creatures in a fallen world and that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye,and the pride of life are snares that will only ever lead to eternal death, humanity is reinforcing these traps with customer-friendly “smart” technology.
You don’t really think that in a world where both incredibly powerful and wealthy people and this kind of technology co-exist, they’re not, at the very least, thinking about some sort of green tech dystopia?
I’m just saying — does this not at least strongly hint of some sort of digitized, high-tech version of the Tower of Babel?
Of course, if that’s the case, then we have reason to rejoice — for God’s justice for such idolatrous endeavors is always in His favor, as He has consistently shown throughout human history. Put your trust in Him, and no amount of “smart” technology will ever interfere with His plan for your Salvation!
