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Some of us call this "capitalism". Prices are driven by offer and demand, efficient market allocation to who can extract most value from a resource, we like tha
by dist-epoch 1y ago
Some of us call this "capitalism". Prices are driven by offer and demand, efficient market allocation to who can extract most value from a resource, we like that on HN.
- SoftTalker 1y agoPrices are actually driven by value. How much do you want the thing? Do data centers value power? I would think so, since they cannot operate without it. Utilities should be charging them a premium.
- dist-epoch 1y agoIf utilities charge them a premium, why would they sell power to those which do not pay the premium instead of auctioning all power?
- LargeWu 1y agoBecause they're theoretically regulated and ordered to do so. The market for power is not a free market due to the locally monopolistic nature of it.
- datadrivenangel 1y agoThings cost exactly what we pay for them.
- ceejayoz 1y agoAnd this is precisely why raw, unfettered capitalism isn't really the norm in the developed world.
- LargeWu 1y agoCaptialism is really good at efficiency. But it is not so good at allocation, specifically for essential goods, and that's the problem here.
- terminalshort 1y agoHow do you define what is an essential good here? For electricity I would place most residential usage near the bottom in priority and definitely below a datacenter. People complaining about facing a tradeoff between setting the thermostat a couple degrees higher this summer or facing a higher power bill just doesn't get much sympathy from me.
- throw0101d 1y ago> Prices are driven by offer and demand, efficient market allocation to who can extract most value from a resource, we like that on HN. What is the value of the bottom-half of income earners being able to pay for heating and cooking?
- jimbokun 1y agoThis is not capitalism because the laws are distorting the market, favoring large corporations over consumers.