22,000 Colorado Xcel Energy Customers Lose Control of Thermostat

(KNSI) – Some Xcel Energy customers in Colorado say they feel dumb for signing up for the company’s smart thermostat program.

Available here in Minnesota too under the name AC Rewards, it allows the utility to control the temperature of your home during an emergency in exchange for an annual discount of $25 and an initial enrollment rebate of $100.

Last Tuesday, a combination of soaring temperatures and lost capacity from a power plant going offline in the Centennial State led to an energy crunch. The thermostats were remotely locked for hours, causing over 22,000 customers to roast. Some said the mercury inside their house went as high as 88 degrees.

This was the first time an emergency was declared in Colorado since the service began. Roughly 45,600 customers are enrolled in AC Rewards across the country overall.

California and other western states have suffered a range of problems under a persistent heat wave that continued into this week. California is begging customers to avoid charging electric vehicles during peak demand hours and asking everyone to turn their thermostats up to at least 78 degrees to help ease strain on the grid there.

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