[BajaGringo]

We saw this coming – it really should not be that big a surprise to anybody, especially the authorities who have been getting these warnings from CFE for several years now that the grid is approaching its limits with only a few possible (realistically speaking) solutions:

1. Add more solar/wind farms to offset peak demand
2. Install Time of Use (ToU) type meters to help reduce demand during peak hours
3. Build more conventional power plants

There are some other things they can do like offer better incentives for users to exchange their old appliances for new, more energy efficient models as well as give tax incentives for business to install rooftop solar systems as well as increased public information type campaigns to educate people as to why they need to conserve their energy consumption, but I have found that a ToU meter does that quite quickly with the lesson learned after the first billing cycle.

We live here completely off-grid and as the grid continues to creep closer, it looks like we might be connected sometime during the next 12-24 months, however I already decided not to convert ours into a grid tied system but instead will keep it independent with a 3 way selector switch to ensure that we always have power here.