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Most utilities, including I assume California's, do have a flat component of the total bill to cover operational expenses like salaries, the fixed cost of infra

Most utilities, including I assume California's, do have a flat component of the total bill to cover operational expenses like salaries, the fixed cost of infrastructure, hedging against huge spot price spikes, etc. In my case (Pacific Northwest), this amounts to about one-sixth of my total bill. But having 100% of your bill be a flat fee would just be crazy: there'd be no incentive to conserve energy and "based on max power draw" would encourage people to use 100% of their possible consumption all the time.

konschubert 3y ago
You misunderstood me. The GRID FEES should be flat. They are just one component of the price that is charged by the utility, and currently they are charged per kWh consumed. The POWER PRICE should of course scale with the kWh that are being consumed - either as a fixed price, or better with a component that depends on the time of the day or the actual market price.
- ThatPlayer 3y ago
  Part of the grid is scaling with power usage, so I think it makes sense that someone who uses more power has to pay more for grid upgrades/maintenance.
  - konschubert 3y ago
    Grid is scaling with max power draw at times of congestion. Congestion is heavily correlated across consumers, so you cannot prevent it by charging higher marginal power costs. (Like mobile carriers do with data)
    - ThatPlayer 3y ago
      Isn't that the same idea as charging more at certain times of the day? We can bake grid fees into those peak hours. Then if there is equal usage between all consumers like you say, then everyone would get charged equally for the grid . Functionally the same as a fixed price.
Rebelgecko 3y ago
FWIW I'm in California and my bill is totally based on usage (although not linearly). However in a few years the state is moving towards adding an income-based fee
- aidenn0 3y ago
  I'm on SCE in California and I pay about $0.73 per day in "Basic Charges" (about $23/mo) if I use zero power. There are also grid-related charges (including a wildfire fund charge) that are usage-based on the order of $0.03/kWh. For my usage (about 1MWh per month) that means half the grid charges are flat and half are from usage. For comparison, my TOU energy rates range from $0.06 to $0.25 per kWh depending on the season and time of day.

konschubert 3y ago

You misunderstood me. The GRID FEES should be flat. They are just one component of the price that is charged by the utility, and currently they are charged per kWh consumed. The POWER PRICE should of course scale with the kWh that are being consumed - either as a fixed price, or better with a component that depends on the time of the day or the actual market price.

ThatPlayer 3y ago
Part of the grid is scaling with power usage, so I think it makes sense that someone who uses more power has to pay more for grid upgrades/maintenance.
- konschubert 3y ago
  Grid is scaling with max power draw at times of congestion. Congestion is heavily correlated across consumers, so you cannot prevent it by charging higher marginal power costs. (Like mobile carriers do with data)
  - ThatPlayer 3y ago
    Isn't that the same idea as charging more at certain times of the day? We can bake grid fees into those peak hours. Then if there is equal usage between all consumers like you say, then everyone would get charged equally for the grid . Functionally the same as a fixed price.

Rebelgecko 3y ago

FWIW I'm in California and my bill is totally based on usage (although not linearly). However in a few years the state is moving towards adding an income-based fee

aidenn0 3y ago
I'm on SCE in California and I pay about $0.73 per day in "Basic Charges" (about $23/mo) if I use zero power. There are also grid-related charges (including a wildfire fund charge) that are usage-based on the order of $0.03/kWh. For my usage (about 1MWh per month) that means half the grid charges are flat and half are from usage. For comparison, my TOU energy rates range from $0.06 to $0.25 per kWh depending on the season and time of day.