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Transmission costs are not the only reason why people in different regions pay different prices for retail energy. Retail prices include far more than the pure

Transmission costs are not the only reason why people in different regions pay different prices for retail energy. Retail prices include far more than the pure generation and transmission costs. You can’t use those numbers to assume transmission is the primary driver of cost. The actual cost of sending power across the grid is relatively low. The Wikipedia page on power transmission is a good place to get an introduction: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission Specifically: > The cost of high voltage electricity transmission (as opposed to the costs of electric power distribution) is comparatively low, compared to all other costs arising in a consumer's electricity bill. In the UK, transmission costs are about 0.2 p per kWh compared to a delivered domestic price of around 10 p per kWh.

gruez 6y ago
> Transmission costs are not the only reason why people in different regions pay different prices for retail energy. Retail prices include far more than the pure generation and transmission costs. You can’t use those numbers to assume transmission is the primary driver of cost. You're right, although an alternate source shows that the same difference exists for residential to large power (50,000 kW+) customers. Presumably for large power customers the cost of electricity becomes a bigger factor compared to other expenses. https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/comparison-electricity-prices.pdf#page=24 https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/compa... >> The cost of high voltage electricity transmission (as opposed to the costs of electric power distribution) is comparatively low, compared to all other costs arising in a consumer's electricity bill. In the UK, transmission costs are about 0.2 p per kWh compared to a delivered domestic price of around 10 p per kWh. There's selection bias going on here. Power is expensive to transmit over long distances, so power authorities opt to build local power plants, so that the expensive long transmission lines aren't built and therefore aren't being factored in.

gruez 6y ago

> Transmission costs are not the only reason why people in different regions pay different prices for retail energy. Retail prices include far more than the pure generation and transmission costs. You can’t use those numbers to assume transmission is the primary driver of cost. You're right, although an alternate source shows that the same difference exists for residential to large power (50,000 kW+) customers. Presumably for large power customers the cost of electricity becomes a bigger factor compared to other expenses. https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/comparison-electricity-prices.pdf#page=24 https://www.hydroquebec.com/data/documents-donnees/pdf/compa... >> The cost of high voltage electricity transmission (as opposed to the costs of electric power distribution) is comparatively low, compared to all other costs arising in a consumer's electricity bill. In the UK, transmission costs are about 0.2 p per kWh compared to a delivered domestic price of around 10 p per kWh. There's selection bias going on here. Power is expensive to transmit over long distances, so power authorities opt to build local power plants, so that the expensive long transmission lines aren't built and therefore aren't being factored in.