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Isn’t this just going to incentivize the people can afford to, to install residential solar/battery and go off grid? Which probably has negative consequences fo

Isn’t this just going to incentivize the people can afford to, to install residential solar/battery and go off grid? Which probably has negative consequences for the low/moderate income people who will have to share a larger portion of the fixed costs?

shadowfu 4y ago
This was the first response when I shared this with someone else.
zamalek 4y ago
Technology Connections has a really interesting (as always) video on this. Supposedly 10-20% of your power bill goes to power, the rest is for grid maintenance. The poor are going to have to pay more and more to maintain the grid, unless there is a radical change in how grid-tied is priced.
- zen_1 4y ago
  Off topic, but your username made me do a double take, wasn't expecting a name from my hometown to pop up as a HN user
- probablypower 4y ago
  This is kind of on the right track, but not correct. The breakdown varies wildly depending on which electrical market you're in, and where in that market you're physically located. The price you pay is mostly a combination of: - Wholesale energy prices set by multiple markets (week ahead, day ahead, balancing) - Market fees (minimal) - TSO/ISO tariffs for running the transmission grid and any ancillary services, as well as grid maintenance and capital recovery - Similar DSO tariffs for the distribution grid - retail costs that represent the overhead of any electricity retailer that exists between you and the DSO - taxes and other fees depending on your state In my country, the wholesale cost is approximately 60%, TSO and DSO fees are around 10-15% each, retail is around 5% and other fees and taxes make up the rest. My numbers are loose because it has been 4 years since I broke it all down last. Your underlying point is right though, that richer people can afford to buy their own production to avoid most of these fees. The result being that poor people shoulder more of the cost.

shadowfu 4y ago

This was the first response when I shared this with someone else.

zamalek 4y ago

Technology Connections has a really interesting (as always) video on this. Supposedly 10-20% of your power bill goes to power, the rest is for grid maintenance. The poor are going to have to pay more and more to maintain the grid, unless there is a radical change in how grid-tied is priced.

zen_1 4y ago
Off topic, but your username made me do a double take, wasn't expecting a name from my hometown to pop up as a HN user
probablypower 4y ago
This is kind of on the right track, but not correct. The breakdown varies wildly depending on which electrical market you're in, and where in that market you're physically located. The price you pay is mostly a combination of: - Wholesale energy prices set by multiple markets (week ahead, day ahead, balancing) - Market fees (minimal) - TSO/ISO tariffs for running the transmission grid and any ancillary services, as well as grid maintenance and capital recovery - Similar DSO tariffs for the distribution grid - retail costs that represent the overhead of any electricity retailer that exists between you and the DSO - taxes and other fees depending on your state In my country, the wholesale cost is approximately 60%, TSO and DSO fees are around 10-15% each, retail is around 5% and other fees and taxes make up the rest. My numbers are loose because it has been 4 years since I broke it all down last. Your underlying point is right though, that richer people can afford to buy their own production to avoid most of these fees. The result being that poor people shoulder more of the cost.