3 ms·

> Your issues with "dirty" energy are entirely separate. It's not really, that's the entire idea behind economic externalities. Power generation using carbon

> Your issues with "dirty" energy are entirely separate. It's not really, that's the entire idea behind economic externalities. Power generation using carbon sources brings with it a cost in the form of pollution and greenhouse gases not directly paid by the customer. That cost is effectively spread out evenly across society, so those who use less carbon intensive energy are more or less subsidizing those who use more. Or to put it another way, if the folks with rooftop solar were instead just using electricity from coal or gas plants like their neighbors, their neighbors would have an increased pollution/global warming cost even if they don't see it in their electric bill. Of course the math may or may not actually work out since the net metering costs for rooftop solar are based on electricity rates rather than any pollution based externalities. But the idea that it's strictly an economic transfer from people without solar to those with solar doesn't seem entirely accurate. And the economic impacts of "dirty" energy are definitely not a separate issue.

conradev 1y ago
Utilities already have mandates to buy X% of their power from renewable sources. They primarily do this by building/buying utility scale renewables because that is more cost effective than paying homeowners retail rates for their electricity. Distributed generation is great because generation and consumption are next to each other, and this can theoretically reduce peak load on the grid. The problem is that the sun goes down every day at the same time, and we're back to the same peak load. The lowered rates in NEM 3.0 actually incentivize homeowners to buy batteries and load shift, which does actually help reduce peak load. Batteries are still too expensive, though, and the hope is that falling battery costs make it economical. Externalities exist, yes, but they only matter when they get priced in. Capital moves energy markets, not vibes.

conradev 1y ago

Utilities already have mandates to buy X% of their power from renewable sources. They primarily do this by building/buying utility scale renewables because that is more cost effective than paying homeowners retail rates for their electricity. Distributed generation is great because generation and consumption are next to each other, and this can theoretically reduce peak load on the grid. The problem is that the sun goes down every day at the same time, and we're back to the same peak load. The lowered rates in NEM 3.0 actually incentivize homeowners to buy batteries and load shift, which does actually help reduce peak load. Batteries are still too expensive, though, and the hope is that falling battery costs make it economical. Externalities exist, yes, but they only matter when they get priced in. Capital moves energy markets, not vibes.