associated with the u201c firm power u201d load and a separate power panel 20 1 20 n associated with the pre selected u201c interruptible power u201d loads in accordance with the teachings of the present invention a utility call center 22 is included in the arrangement and functions to react to changes in load conditions experienced by the power company and determine when the need arises to clip the load of power being distributed to customers 12 1 12 n when call center 22 is directed to shed load it sends a control signal s to an element in an alternative communication network 24 network 24 includes a plurality of communication paths 26 1 26 n which are connected to interruptible power loads 14 1 14 n respectively therefore when control signal s is received by network 24 a set of u201c interrupt u201d signals i will be transmitted along paths 26 to the plurality of interruptible power loads 14 turning u201c off u201d these loads for a predetermined period of time in one embodiment of the present invention the u201c interrupt u201d may be for a period not to exceed fifteen minutes each hour thus the interruptible loads for be available for use by the customer for 75 of the time yet the power company will recognize a considerable saving as will be discussed in detail below in each instance that it can reduce the total load on the system 0021 fig2 illustrates in more detail a pair of exemplary interruptible.