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I think we need to figure out how to de-complicate variable rates for residential customers. Forcing people to pay what electricity actually costs (ideally, in

I think we need to figure out how to de-complicate variable rates for residential customers. Forcing people to pay what electricity actually costs (ideally, in real-time) is a good way to make your demand-side much more responsive. During the Texas winter crisis, virtually no residential customers saw a financial incentive to wind down power usage. Only those crazies on Griddy, et. al. were impacted.

bombcar 4y ago
Both in Texas and California recently lots of people voluntarily cut back but it’d be nice to reflect that in the billing in some way. The Griddy way may have been too extreme but encouraging conservation of energy is a generally good idea (imagine things like rebating permit fees based on sliding scale of how much you “beat code” on a blower door and insulation test).
- ab_testing 4y ago
  It is actually the opposite. In California, police attack your home if you are thrifty and use less energy. Apparently you are placed on some sort of suspicious list and accused of stealing power. https://www.yahoo.com/video/senior-asian-couple-california-gets-200122385.html#:~:text=Senior%20Asian%20couple%20in%20California%20gets%20%24136%2C000%20settlement%20for%20alleged%20illegal%20home%20raids,-Carl%20Samson&text=A%20senior%20Asian%20couple%20living,without%20a%20warrant%20last%20year https://www.yahoo.com/video/senior-asian-couple-california-g....
gonzo 4y ago
During: true. But most Texas utility customers now pay a surcharge every month to pay off the accumulated debt of that crisis. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/02/11/how-much-will-you-pay-to-cover-the-cost-of-64-billion-in-bonds-from-the-electricity-crisis/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/02/11/how-much...
Johnny555 4y ago
Forcing people to pay what electricity actually costs (ideally, in real-time) is a good way to make your demand-side much more responsive. That's only a valid strategy if your customers can be more responsive, but in a freak cold snap where most customers are running heaters at 100% to keep their homes habitable, there's little they can go to reduce demand. Many people have purchased generators after that crisis, but telling (and maybe subsidizing) millions of people to buy a generator and stockpile fuel because the grid can't handle cold weather is not good energy policy. It'd be better if regulators required demand-response automation that would let them intelligently scale back demand of high-energy appliances before the grid reaches critical levels without heavy-handed rolling blackouts.

bombcar 4y ago

Both in Texas and California recently lots of people voluntarily cut back but it’d be nice to reflect that in the billing in some way. The Griddy way may have been too extreme but encouraging conservation of energy is a generally good idea (imagine things like rebating permit fees based on sliding scale of how much you “beat code” on a blower door and insulation test).

ab_testing 4y ago
It is actually the opposite. In California, police attack your home if you are thrifty and use less energy. Apparently you are placed on some sort of suspicious list and accused of stealing power. https://www.yahoo.com/video/senior-asian-couple-california-gets-200122385.html#:~:text=Senior%20Asian%20couple%20in%20California%20gets%20%24136%2C000%20settlement%20for%20alleged%20illegal%20home%20raids,-Carl%20Samson&text=A%20senior%20Asian%20couple%20living,without%20a%20warrant%20last%20year https://www.yahoo.com/video/senior-asian-couple-california-g....

gonzo 4y ago

During: true. But most Texas utility customers now pay a surcharge every month to pay off the accumulated debt of that crisis. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/02/11/how-much-will-you-pay-to-cover-the-cost-of-64-billion-in-bonds-from-the-electricity-crisis/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/watchdog/2022/02/11/how-much...

Johnny555 4y ago

Forcing people to pay what electricity actually costs (ideally, in real-time) is a good way to make your demand-side much more responsive. That's only a valid strategy if your customers can be more responsive, but in a freak cold snap where most customers are running heaters at 100% to keep their homes habitable, there's little they can go to reduce demand. Many people have purchased generators after that crisis, but telling (and maybe subsidizing) millions of people to buy a generator and stockpile fuel because the grid can't handle cold weather is not good energy policy. It'd be better if regulators required demand-response automation that would let them intelligently scale back demand of high-energy appliances before the grid reaches critical levels without heavy-handed rolling blackouts.