> Most electric utilities have programs designed to reduce load because they don't want to expand capacity.
It's not just that. For society at large, the less electricity is consumed the better for the environment - all power generation comes at a serious cost: nuclear may be the most efficient but raises the question of security (especially in earthquake-prone areas or potential hurricane/flood zones), environmental contamination caused by mining, waste storage and nuclear weapon material proliferation; solar takes up a lot of space and requires energy-intensive and polluting production steps; windmills are a danger to flight; all fossil fuels are bad due to CO2 and the impact of however they are mined; running water is bad for fish migration; dam water consumes large amounts of land and is a perfect target to hit in a war (as the Russians showed in Ukraine a few weeks ago); geothermal carries a risk of earthquakes.
It's not just that. For society at large, the less electricity is consumed the better for the environment - all power generation comes at a serious cost: nuclear may be the most efficient but raises the question of security (especially in earthquake-prone areas or potential hurricane/flood zones), environmental contamination caused by mining, waste storage and nuclear weapon material proliferation; solar takes up a lot of space and requires energy-intensive and polluting production steps; windmills are a danger to flight; all fossil fuels are bad due to CO2 and the impact of however they are mined; running water is bad for fish migration; dam water consumes large amounts of land and is a perfect target to hit in a war (as the Russians showed in Ukraine a few weeks ago); geothermal carries a risk of earthquakes.