I want to program my electric car to charge whenever the instantaneous market rate is below $0.10/kwH. If the instantaneous market rate of power goes above $1/kwH, I want my air conditioner to shut off. If everyone else did the same thing, the price would never get much above that.

Shielding people from the realities of supply and demand is what leads to overconsumption. Give them tools to control their consumption based on true market rates and everything will sort itself out.