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Seems like an American problem. You got more renewable usage in Europe and more stable grids than the US. Problem is more likely due to poor management and low

Seems like an American problem. You got more renewable usage in Europe and more stable grids than the US. Problem is more likely due to poor management and low investment and maintenance of grids in the US. When I travel around the US I notice infrastructure in general is in very poor condition . While people drive big cars and live in McMansions. Public poverty and private opulence.

Gibbon1 6y ago
Yeah he tells you the answer why it's an American problem in the first sentence.
- ZeroGravitas 6y ago
  And bizarrely tells you what the non-American answer is in the second last paragraph (sensible regulation of the grid), and then dismisses this out of hand and supports a weird socialist planned-economy solution that only seems popular with American libertarians.
  - konjin 6y ago
    Regulation on electricity works no where. Germany being the best "European" example of how a government has managed to destroy a market to the point that the only reason Germany has power for half the year because France is next door.
    - ben_w 6y ago
      Isn’t French electricity dominated by Electricité de France, which is 85% state-owned?
      - konjin 6y ago
        Yes, and look, France has the only working energy market in Europe. Turns out telling businesses what they can and can't do just means they hire smarter people to do what they want in more convoluted ways.
        ben_w 6y ago
        You aren’t giving me (software nerd, not quant) enough to latch onto to either agree, to disagree, or even to learn something new. If you have time, I’d suggest reading the following, and — if you feel like it — rephrasing your argument: https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Inferential_distance https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Inferential_distance
        konjin 6y ago
        Quite frankly teaching the average person about how the grid works is as hard as teaching the average astrologer about astronomy and even less worth while. The number of times I've been downvoted to invisibility and flagged makes it completely not worth my time unless I'm talking to someone interesting who has an idea already. Unfortunately you tick neither box. If you're interested my hourly rate for this type of work is $300, you're welcome to commission a report on the country of your choice.
        ben_w 6y ago
        > The number of times I've been downvoted to invisibility and flagged makes it completely not worth my time unless I'm talking to someone interesting who has an idea already. I totally understand the sentiment; thing is, this isn’t a quant forum, it’s mostly tech, and even then more software than hardware — either you should take the downvotes as a hint to simplify, or as a hint to not bother with that topic here. Again, I really do sympathise with your frustration: no matter how I try, I can’t get non-programmers to understand even the basics of cryptography and why police master-keys/backdoors are a bad idea.
    - ZeroGravitas 6y ago
      I had to go back and check that you were the same person who suggested: > Nationalization of the grid assets and a massive nuclear building spree is the only solution I'm not sure even you know what you want.
      - konjin 6y ago
        Regulation and nationalization are two different things. Only in America could the two be conflated. A market does not work for a natural monopoly.
gridlockd 6y ago
> You got more renewable usage in Europe and more stable grids than the US. Usage and production are two different things. You can produce more energy than you need and have a stable grid by just throwing money at the problem. In 2016, you had EEX spot prices around 2-3 ct/kWh, below the production cost of any technology. This signals waste and it's also a major reason why renewables rollouts stalled in Europe.

Gibbon1 6y ago

Yeah he tells you the answer why it's an American problem in the first sentence.

ZeroGravitas 6y ago
And bizarrely tells you what the non-American answer is in the second last paragraph (sensible regulation of the grid), and then dismisses this out of hand and supports a weird socialist planned-economy solution that only seems popular with American libertarians.
- konjin 6y ago
  Regulation on electricity works no where. Germany being the best "European" example of how a government has managed to destroy a market to the point that the only reason Germany has power for half the year because France is next door.
  - ben_w 6y ago
    Isn’t French electricity dominated by Electricité de France, which is 85% state-owned?
    - konjin 6y ago
      Yes, and look, France has the only working energy market in Europe. Turns out telling businesses what they can and can't do just means they hire smarter people to do what they want in more convoluted ways.
      - ben_w 6y ago
        You aren’t giving me (software nerd, not quant) enough to latch onto to either agree, to disagree, or even to learn something new. If you have time, I’d suggest reading the following, and — if you feel like it — rephrasing your argument: https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Inferential_distance https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Inferential_distance
        konjin 6y ago
        Quite frankly teaching the average person about how the grid works is as hard as teaching the average astrologer about astronomy and even less worth while. The number of times I've been downvoted to invisibility and flagged makes it completely not worth my time unless I'm talking to someone interesting who has an idea already. Unfortunately you tick neither box. If you're interested my hourly rate for this type of work is $300, you're welcome to commission a report on the country of your choice.
        ben_w 6y ago
        > The number of times I've been downvoted to invisibility and flagged makes it completely not worth my time unless I'm talking to someone interesting who has an idea already. I totally understand the sentiment; thing is, this isn’t a quant forum, it’s mostly tech, and even then more software than hardware — either you should take the downvotes as a hint to simplify, or as a hint to not bother with that topic here. Again, I really do sympathise with your frustration: no matter how I try, I can’t get non-programmers to understand even the basics of cryptography and why police master-keys/backdoors are a bad idea.
  - ZeroGravitas 6y ago
    I had to go back and check that you were the same person who suggested: > Nationalization of the grid assets and a massive nuclear building spree is the only solution I'm not sure even you know what you want.
    - konjin 6y ago
      Regulation and nationalization are two different things. Only in America could the two be conflated. A market does not work for a natural monopoly.

gridlockd 6y ago

> You got more renewable usage in Europe and more stable grids than the US. Usage and production are two different things. You can produce more energy than you need and have a stable grid by just throwing money at the problem. In 2016, you had EEX spot prices around 2-3 ct/kWh, below the production cost of any technology. This signals waste and it's also a major reason why renewables rollouts stalled in Europe.