Queensland shuts off air conditioning for over 8,000 homes due to climate policies
The government of Queensland, Australia turned off the cooling functions for 8,300 homes on a sweltering day last month as part of its “net zero” plan to fight climate change.
Energex, Queensland’s state-owned energy company, offers customers a $400 rebate on their power bills if they sign up for the PeakSmart program. In exchange for the refund, PeakSmart customers must allow Energex to install air conditioning units in their homes that can be controlled by the company. During times of peak demand, Energex can remotely restrict certain functions like heating or cooling to conserve energy.
On December 8th, when temperatures reached as high as 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit, 8,300 PeakSmart households in the Logan and Ipswich areas found their air conditioners’ cooling mechanisms disabled by Energex.
The power rations result from climate policies that restrict coal-sourced energy in favor of wind- and solar-powered energy to achieve the government’s net-zero emissions goal. However, because the renewable energy infrastructure is inadequate, the government rations power to taxpayers.
This was the fifth time Energex withheld air conditioning from residents in 2024, according to The Courier Mail. Between December 2023 and January 2024, the government-owned company restricted cooling for nearly 170,000 air conditioning units six times.
“Smart Meters cutting off your power is no longer a conspiracy theory. It's already here!” wrote Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts in an X post earlier last year. “The Queensland Government reached into people's homes to take control of 170,000 air-cons in the last two months. Wind, solar and the demonisation of coal is destroying our once reliable power supply, turning Australia into a third world country, despite our vast natural resources. Only [the political party] One Nation will stop the Net Zero insanity and bring back cheap power bills.”
22,000 Coloradans locked out of thermostats
Taxpayers in other countries have been subjected to similar measures. In the summer of 2022, for example, thousands of Colorado residents who had opted-in to an “energy-saving” plan (AC Rewards) suddenly found their smart thermostats locked at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, The Gold Report revealed at the time.
“By participating in AC Rewards, adjustments are made to your smart thermostat during the hottest summer days,” explains power supplier XL Energy on its website. “When the demand for electricity is the highest, you'll help us manage these peaks and ease the strain on the electrical grid. You'll be cut back on the time your central air works to cool your home with control events.”
XL Energy says these “control events” can occur at any time, but participants can opt out of them manually if they choose. However, “On rare occasions, system emergencies may cause a control event that cannot be overridden.”
One such “system emergency” happened in August 2022, the first time in the program’s six-year history. Despite the temperature climbing into the 90s, an unexpected outage in Pueblo combined with heavy air conditioning usage led to the company locking 22,000 homes out of their thermostats which were automatically set at 78 degrees.
