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Negative energy prices have been a not uncommon occurrence in various places in the US and EU for a while. They are not necessarily a good thing. They occur d

Negative energy prices have been a not uncommon occurrence in various places in the US and EU for a while. They are not necessarily a good thing. They occur due to a combination of how generating sources are managed/dispatched [1] and because of policies that make it possible for (some) generating facilities to still make a profit while bidding to provide electricity at a negative cost (literally paying the recipient to take the electricity). This is not necessarily a good thing and can actually lead to increased carbon footprints of our energy generation mix along with other not necessarily good outcomes [2]. [1] https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=7590 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=7590 [2] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6917222/ https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6917222/

talltimtom 8y ago
> They are not necessarily a good thing Indeed. I would even go as far as to say they are never a good thing. They indicate that the plants are having to spend money to keep things running, and that extra cost is carried over to the very same consumers who for short periods get “free” power or get paid to absorb the load. And since the scenario of having negative prices is far from efficient the total cost is still positive. So unless you have a very unusual completely selective powerusage you end up paying more net than if the prices had remained positive but slightly lower throughout.