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If you live in Texas you can switch your home's power to wind via a YC company and probably save money: getgex.com

6thaccount2 7y ago
Unless you're hooking up your rural house to a turbine, your comment is misleading. The power going to your house will still be a mix of coal, natural gas, wind, solar, and others.
- elamje 7y ago
  Not sure why you are getting downvoted. Can someone show that a company that does not install wind turbines at your house can guarantee that you will be receiving power only produced by wind turbines? I could be misunderstanding something, but it seems that two neighbors(one using “wind”, the other using standard power) that share the same power line simply cannot be getting power from different sources. Edit: Hmm, now I’m getting downvoted, still without an explaination.
  - dang 7y ago
    It breaks the site guidelines to go on about downvoting and that often triggers further downvotes. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - elamje 7y ago
      Okay, sorry dang.
  - benj111 7y ago
    If you buy green electricity such as wind power you are paying for that power to be generated. If 10% of people buy wind power, 10% of the grid should be wind. If 100% of the people buy wind power, 100% of the grid should be wind. The parent is pointing out that absent the grid being 100% wind, the electricity delivered to your house isnt necessarily from wind power. This isn't particularly helpful, or even required. An electron is an electron, where it goes doesn't really matter, just where it came from.
    - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
      I really think that should say, "If 10% of people buy wind power, at least 10% of the grid should be wind." Alternatively, if folks suddenly demand wind and the supply is not there, I'd think there should be some sort of way for the companies to earmark money to meet the wind demand. This is especially true if the company is charging an optional premium fee for "green energy".
  - alkonaut 7y ago
    Power companies everywhere sell “green power” and of course they don’t hook me up to a hydro plant even though I’m paying to ensure my electricity is “100% hydro”. If a company with renewable engergy production produces X kWh then they can sell that to N customers as renewable electricity even if they deliver it through a grid where coal power electrons are also distributed. If demand for renewable energy increases (more customers get the contracts from these companies that produce renewable) then those companies can expand or more such companies can enter the market. So it’s about production/consumption balance of various ways of producing energy, nothing else. This isn’t strange or controversial in any way.
- dagss 7y ago
  I am sure you also like to point out that when people are using cash, they are "really" exhanging rectangular pieces of cotton/paper/plastic.
  - 6thaccount2 7y ago
    No.... seriously. Your bill might be going toward green energy, but dirty coal is still fueling your home. Granted, many understand that and are perfectly fine with it as you're helping to effect change. However, a lot of folks have been really confused by that marketing line, so it deserves clarification. HN users are probably more educated than the general public of course, but I work in this industry and strive for clarity.
- CydeWeys 7y ago
  Electricity is fungible. It doesn't make sense to build out multiple entire electric grids, one per type of energy generation.
  - 6thaccount2 7y ago
    I most certainly did not advocate for that.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    The problem is that it's fungible in the other direction. Everyone buying generic electricity can end up with less wind, so your net impact is less or zero.

Unless you're hooking up your rural house to a turbine, your comment is misleading. The power going to your house will still be a mix of coal, natural gas, wind, solar, and others.

elamje 7y ago
Not sure why you are getting downvoted. Can someone show that a company that does not install wind turbines at your house can guarantee that you will be receiving power only produced by wind turbines? I could be misunderstanding something, but it seems that two neighbors(one using “wind”, the other using standard power) that share the same power line simply cannot be getting power from different sources. Edit: Hmm, now I’m getting downvoted, still without an explaination.
- dang 7y ago
  It breaks the site guidelines to go on about downvoting and that often triggers further downvotes. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - elamje 7y ago
    Okay, sorry dang.
- benj111 7y ago
  If you buy green electricity such as wind power you are paying for that power to be generated. If 10% of people buy wind power, 10% of the grid should be wind. If 100% of the people buy wind power, 100% of the grid should be wind. The parent is pointing out that absent the grid being 100% wind, the electricity delivered to your house isnt necessarily from wind power. This isn't particularly helpful, or even required. An electron is an electron, where it goes doesn't really matter, just where it came from.
  - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
    I really think that should say, "If 10% of people buy wind power, at least 10% of the grid should be wind." Alternatively, if folks suddenly demand wind and the supply is not there, I'd think there should be some sort of way for the companies to earmark money to meet the wind demand. This is especially true if the company is charging an optional premium fee for "green energy".
- alkonaut 7y ago
  Power companies everywhere sell “green power” and of course they don’t hook me up to a hydro plant even though I’m paying to ensure my electricity is “100% hydro”. If a company with renewable engergy production produces X kWh then they can sell that to N customers as renewable electricity even if they deliver it through a grid where coal power electrons are also distributed. If demand for renewable energy increases (more customers get the contracts from these companies that produce renewable) then those companies can expand or more such companies can enter the market. So it’s about production/consumption balance of various ways of producing energy, nothing else. This isn’t strange or controversial in any way.
dagss 7y ago
I am sure you also like to point out that when people are using cash, they are "really" exhanging rectangular pieces of cotton/paper/plastic.
- 6thaccount2 7y ago
  No.... seriously. Your bill might be going toward green energy, but dirty coal is still fueling your home. Granted, many understand that and are perfectly fine with it as you're helping to effect change. However, a lot of folks have been really confused by that marketing line, so it deserves clarification. HN users are probably more educated than the general public of course, but I work in this industry and strive for clarity.
CydeWeys 7y ago
Electricity is fungible. It doesn't make sense to build out multiple entire electric grids, one per type of energy generation.
- 6thaccount2 7y ago
  I most certainly did not advocate for that.
- Dylan16807 7y ago
  The problem is that it's fungible in the other direction. Everyone buying generic electricity can end up with less wind, so your net impact is less or zero.