Other Usage
In addition, RDS is being proposed as the data transmission protocol in California's "Programmable Communicating Thermostat" (PCT) program. The proposed technology would allow electricity consumers exposed to “time-based pricing” for electricity to respond to an RDS signal containing price information when their retail electricity price changed during periods of high wholesale electricity costs or abnormally high demand that threatened the stability of the electricity grid. The PCT could then automate any actions that the consumer had pre-programmed the device to take. For example, if the price of electricity went up on a hot afternoon because of extremely high demand, the consumer could preset the PCT to raise their air conditioner cooling set point by a few degrees in order to reduce their overall electricity consumption and bill.
The technology could be extended to other home electricity consuming devices such as water heaters, clothes dryers, dishwashers, swimming pool pumps, etc. allowing consumers under time-based pricing for electricity significant automatic control over their electricity consumption during periods when the price of electricity is naturally higher than normal (see load management). The goal is to give consumers a choice between paying more for high value peak electricity, or reducing their lowest value loads at those times. Such voluntary “demand response” behavior could significantly reduce the price of electricity during non-peak periods because of reduced need for infrequently used peaking power plants, and also reduce the chances of blackouts during emergency events when the electricity grid is stressed or damaged.
RDS subcarrier use for the control of peak power has been in development in Australia since early 2000. ETSA the South Australia Electricity Trust and Saab Systems Australia, a local South Australian company, pioneered the idea after Saab engineer Trent Ryan developed the idea in late 1999 and brought it to Saab for further refinement.
In Sweden, RDS PTY signalling is used to let the public service broadcaster break into commercial radio station transmissions to broadcast emergency warnings.
Read more about this topic: Radio Data System
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