5 ms·
If as a society we stop thinking about electricity reliability as a binary issue, we'd save a lot of money. We can achieve 99.999% availability with extraordin
by ghouse 7y ago
If as a society we stop thinking about electricity reliability as a binary issue, we'd save a lot of money. We can achieve 99.999% availability with extraordinary safety in fire-risk areas, but it's very expensive. Would some consumers accept 50% off if if they had (only) 99% reliability?
As a regulated (natural) monopoly, price is supposed to be determined by the cost. Fixed-costs are a factor of geography (including density), reliability, and safety. While marginal costs are driven primarily by when the electricity is used. Electricity use coincident with system peak is very expensive, driving marginal generation, transmission, and distribution capex. While marginal costs of electricity use coincident with system trough is very inexpensive, and perhaps negative.
- zdragnar 7y agoDepending on where you live, power outages can be fatal in extreme cold or heat, especially to the elderly. I abaolutely am comfortable with my current electrical bill if it means not risking an outage when the temperature is -40 or over 100 degrees F outside. In fact, I may install a backup power generator for the home anyway, but the cost of it running is not trivial and I would be happier never needing it.
- Retric 7y agoIn such situations having a backup power such as a generator for critical systems is common. The electric grid is designed to be cheap not nessisarily dependable. 27,000 x ~500$ generators = 13.5 million which is likely far less expensive than upgrading the grid.
- ip26 7y agoYou might like this: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2018/12/keeping-some-of-the-lights-on-redefining-energy-security.html https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2018/12/keeping-some-of-th...