People will get pretty angry if the power company decides to turn their AC off on a hot day.

Are you sure about that? This is already a thing in Southern California.

It is a thing. But I suspect that people do, in fact, get pretty angry about it.

Usually there's an incentive, and you can opt out.

Maybe I'm being dense, but how would that work without potential risk or inconvenience to the user?

- Smart tanked water heaters hold heat for many hours. Shut off during high load times. Nearly invisible to user in most cases.

- Space heating & cooling pre-heats or pre-cools before anticipated peak demand & shuts off during peak. E.g. Nest Rush Hour Rewards.

- Electric dryer waits to start until rates are low. Or could even interrupt briefly during a short spike. Clothes will not mind being damp another thirty or sixty minutes.

- Electric cars charge at night

The user needs to be inconvenienced. Prioritizing convenience the way we do now is going to guarantee the we carry on right up until civilization collapses completely.