Next year in California, state regulators are likely to have the emergency power to control individual thermostats, sending temperatures up or down through a radio-controlled device that will be required in new or substantially modified houses and buildings to manage electricity shortages.... rest of the article here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11control.html?_r=1
My thermostat is "open the air vent on the stove MORE or LESS" depending on whether I want more heat or less heat.
