[ndonnellan]

Summer months in most of the southern US are extremely hot (in Austin, 4-5 months of the year could have temps above 100F), so for example here is CA in August (see graph in article for demand): https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/how-californias...

Utilities can't design just for the average month, but the worst ones, and the worst hours of the worst days. Building new peak demand (peaker) plants is very expensive and most consumers probably don't see the actual market prices during those times. Shifting load by a very small percent could result in a decent cost savings and/or avoid building new capacity.

[kevan]

Smart grid is a buzzword but this is exactly what it's good for. Spreading peak usage out. For example, today I get a discount on my electric because my power company has the option to turn my AC off for X time during hot days to lower the grid's peak load. The tech is already here and a lot of EV charging will fit well into that model, especially commuters that don't need their whole range every day. Plenty of people would opt in to "at least one full charge every 3 days" type of plans.