The White House supports an across the nation move to time-of-use power rates--enabled by the roll out of “smart” meters--as a way to dampen peak demand for electricity. In a policy paper released June 13 at the White House with much fanfare, President Obama’s National Science & Technology Council called on state regulators and utilities to manage peak demand, including through “pricing programs that create incentives for consumers to choose to reschedule or reduce their energy use on critically hot days or times of day with high demand.” Among the available incentives, the report said, are rebates to consumers who save during peak demand periods and “real-time pricing” in which the variable cost of supplying power is passed through to consumers. White House Office of Science & Technology Policy director John Holdren said the policy is intended to create “empowered” consumers and “a whole new ecosystem of products and services” that can create new jobs in America, such as home energy management systems and smart appliances. The policy paper calls for utilities to make energy usage and cost information available to their customers via computer and for deployment of energy management systems and services that allow consumers to better control power use and lower utility bills. It also calls for privacy safeguards, cyber-security, and a number of other investments to modernize the grid and make it more efficient. Energy secretary Steve Chu noted that China has the most efficient grid in the world today. He called on the U.S. to move in that direction, particularly to accommodate more renewable energy. A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future, was released at a White House smart grid symposium.