Interesting concept - by measuring the frequency of your electric power supply you can see the health of the UK power grid, and in turn you can turn on or off your electricity usage to make sure you tend to use power when it's mostly produced by "green" sources:

How balanced is the UK grid at the moment?

This meter is monitoring the power balance of the UK electricity grid. If the needle is too far to the left, it means more generation is needed to meet demand.

The meter actually shows the grid's "frequency", which is related to the speed of rotation of generators all over the country. When there is too little power available, the whole grid "slows down" and the needle moves to the left.

Why is this important?

It is important because it is possible to measure this signal from any power outlet in the country. This means that it is possible to design electrical appliances that know the current imbalance on the grid. This is what dynamic demand control is about.

[From Dynamic Demand]

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