Unplugging

Holy moly. Looks like National Buy Nothing Day came early this year, and for the first time, also included electricity:

An unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn’t a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could reflect a permanent shift in consumption that will require sweeping change in their industry.

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Electric load-growth in California has has averaged somewhere between 3 and 6 percent — and I have no idea the last time it was negative. Certainly not since 1995, and EIA projects(ed) load-growth as far as the eye can see (assuming an eye can see until 2030).

Looks like people really are mailing their TVs to Papa Bear …