"Nega" Watts ? For cheaper power !

Hillhater

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Sydney ..(Hilly part !) .. Australia/ Down under !
Aparently this is the latest "big idea" to bring down power prices by reducing the need for new generation capacity or storage facilities. !
Basicly, i figure it is "Demand Management" using smart tech...smart appliances, consumer equipment and resources that can be automatically controlled via the net to smooth out peak demands.
There is even an App for it !
Whatever it is, someone will be making money out of it !
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-13/household-electricity-trading-app-may-be-funded-by-government/8707010
 
Reading more , and thinking this through a little....
...this approach relies mainly on there being a significant ammount of "Behind the Meter" generation or storage capacity on which the grid can call to bolster supply for the peaks.
Also needed is a wide application of "smart meters" ( two way metering) to facilitate the logging and management of the power usage.
All this is fine, and Australia is well placed with a large domestic Solar installation base (with smart metering by regulation), and even an early take up of battery back up from the likes of Tesla and several other systems (LG, Panasonic, BDY etc).
... BUT... I am a little uneasy in thinking that this does not encourage investment in new Grid Utility generation of any sort by the existing power authorities to ease the upward pressure on power pricing due to the demand/supply missmatch ?
....and infact there may even be a temptation for keeping power prices high to encourage even more domestic/private consumers to install their own Solar/wind/battery systems in order to reduce their own personal usage costs,..but at the same time further increase the "behind the meter". resources for the "NegaWatt" business to work with !
A clever way to distribute power generation at no cost to the Utility Authorities, whilst retaining a healthy financial income from power management !.......by using the consumers investments !
....am i being paranoid ?
 
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