3 ms·

> that electricity should decrease in cost over time On the back of decades of experience - year in, year out the only constant is that utility bills go up. Th

> that electricity should decrease in cost over time On the back of decades of experience - year in, year out the only constant is that utility bills go up. This time it might be different, but I doubt it.

Kim_Bruning 2y ago
Depends on time and place. I know there's spot price contracts you can get that will -at times of day and year- go negative. That is to say, they'll pay you to use electricity (or alternately, they'll actually charge you if you feed in solar power). At other times of day the price is positive again. It takes a bit of savvy -and panels, and batteries- to actually make optimal use of this, I figure. That said, prices sometimes going negative, however the circumstances, is definitely a bit of a change.
seanmcdirmid 2y ago
Inflation is a given, but one can increase faster than the other. Electricity can be generated in many different ways, so has flexibility, while natural gas must be piped in.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  The flip side of that is that the natural gas infrastructure is pretty well established and isn't likely to increase in cost drastically unless the supply starts running out. If anything we should start using natural gas instead of coal for power plants and raise the residential cost of it while lowering the cost of electricity, but I'm sure there are a bunch of incentives against doing that.
  - dangus 2y ago
    You could say the same thing about electricity infrastructure, pretty well established and unlikely to increase in cost drastically. Except with electricity, the likelihood of supply running out is a lot lower because it has a diverse set of generation options, which includes natural gas. On top of that, you can generate your own electricity at home and store it in batteries (obviously, only if you have a roof you own), and the cost of doing that has only been decreasing.

Kim_Bruning 2y ago

Depends on time and place. I know there's spot price contracts you can get that will -at times of day and year- go negative. That is to say, they'll pay you to use electricity (or alternately, they'll actually charge you if you feed in solar power). At other times of day the price is positive again. It takes a bit of savvy -and panels, and batteries- to actually make optimal use of this, I figure. That said, prices sometimes going negative, however the circumstances, is definitely a bit of a change.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

Inflation is a given, but one can increase faster than the other. Electricity can be generated in many different ways, so has flexibility, while natural gas must be piped in.

Suppafly 2y ago
The flip side of that is that the natural gas infrastructure is pretty well established and isn't likely to increase in cost drastically unless the supply starts running out. If anything we should start using natural gas instead of coal for power plants and raise the residential cost of it while lowering the cost of electricity, but I'm sure there are a bunch of incentives against doing that.
- dangus 2y ago
  You could say the same thing about electricity infrastructure, pretty well established and unlikely to increase in cost drastically. Except with electricity, the likelihood of supply running out is a lot lower because it has a diverse set of generation options, which includes natural gas. On top of that, you can generate your own electricity at home and store it in batteries (obviously, only if you have a roof you own), and the cost of doing that has only been decreasing.