Fact-check: Are Texas power companies remotely adjusting people's thermostats 'without their

[TexasTowelie]

Fact-check: Are Texas power companies remotely adjusting people's thermostats 'without their permission'?


Tucker Carlson: “In Texas, the power companies have automatically raised the temperature of people's thermostats in the middle of a heatwave without their permission."

PolitiFact's ruling: False

Here's why: Summertime temperatures rose into the high 90s last month across Texas. It wasn’t an unusual heat for Texas in mid-June, but it did trigger the state’s grid operator to issue energy conservation alerts.

The alerts issued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas asked residents to set their thermostats at 78 degrees in order to help maintain grid reliability. For some Texans, that adjustment was made automatically by their WiFi-enabled thermostats.

Weeks later, Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired a segment on his show focusing on those thermostats.

"In Texas, the power companies have automatically raised the temperature of people's thermostats in the middle of a heatwave without their permission," he said. “Woo. That's not creepy or anything.”

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/07/12/tucker-carlson-texas-energy-bill-smart-thermostats-fact-check/7914935002/

Facts and Tucker Carlson shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence.

[BillyBobBrilliant]

1. Not without permission (At least in San Antonio)

You have to subscribe to the program, and the power company will provide a thermostat that will allow them to control the setting.

Here the company sends out messages REQUESTING that consumers voluntarily limit usage on High Heat Index days between the hours of 4-7pm. Usually they suggest to refrain from using appliances like clothes dryers, and cooking, and to set the thermostat to 78.