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It would, but no one pays the real cost of electricity. Some people used to be able to in Texas but they banned that shit really fast once it became obvious tha
by bob1029 4y ago
It would, but no one pays the real cost of electricity. Some people used to be able to in Texas but they banned that shit really fast once it became obvious that the average asshole can’t cope with real-time wholesale pricing volatility. $9/KWh adds up fast. If everyone had to suffer that same system, it’s possible we wouldn’t have had a winter crisis in 2021.
- Scipio_Afri 4y agoHow would this have forced utility companies to spend money to invest in winterization of natural gas lines, generators and other parts of the power infrastructure? Wouldn’t they just keep the additional profit for themselves, like they did with the previous profits they had, and the crisis still would’ve happened because natural gas pipes would freeze and the air would be too cold to be used in the compressor stage of the generator without prior heating… More money to the utility company does not exert a pressure for them to spend money for robustness and especially rare events.
- bob1029 4y agoThe point is that if your demand-side of the market is actually sensitized to real-time availability concerns, you would see a much better outcome in constrained generation scenarios. Certainly, additional incentives should be considered to encourage more robust maintenance schedules around generation-side as well. I am absolutely for multiple options here. I don't think this is a situation where one simple decision solves all of the problems all at once.
- dannyw 4y agoI used to pay for wholesale rates in Australia with a startup that was passing through wholesale rates with no mark-up (instead, they charge a monthly service fee). Switched away after $20/kWh days that wiped off a year of savings from no markip.