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Utilities are actually incentivized to charge more per kwh in order to capture profits at an allowed percentage of that kwh. That really serves nobody but the
by dv_dt 3y ago
Utilities are actually incentivized to charge more per kwh in order to capture profits at an allowed percentage of that kwh. That really serves nobody but the shareholders of the private utilities, and it certainly does not serve the poorer customers. The poorer customers would be served by the fastest move to renewable energy, as pollution from fossil fuel generation also disproportionately affects their health due to placement of generation in their neighborhoods disproportionately.
I found this podcast interesting in terms of lower cost technical solutions as well as community control of their own microgrids, but it's really unclear how to push back private utility lobbying to get there.
https://theamphour.com/630-renewable-energy-policy-with-ari-gerstman/ https://theamphour.com/630-renewable-energy-policy-with-ari-...
- ThatPlayer 3y agoThose are completely different topic than residential solar though. I don't disagree, we should be moving to renewables. But even in a community microgrid, are you going to incentivize private solar? There still isn't really a way to incentivize too much without passing along costs to those who cannot afford solar. I would much rather have a community owned solar power station, instead of funding individual private residential solar.
- dv_dt 3y agoIt's not a completely different topic. If a microgrid interface is allowed, for example, then different community and investment models can be considered on a per microgrid basis. If only utility models exist, then most likely a much narrower set of models exist - and likely under serving many communities and groups in addition to higher pricing.