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Electricity prices have gone up due to datacenters as well as neglected grid infrastructure needing investment. Natural gas prices are going up because of LNG e
by toomuchtodo 9mo ago
Electricity prices have gone up due to datacenters as well as neglected grid infrastructure needing investment. Natural gas prices are going up because of LNG export infrastructure causing US consumers to compete against global LNG consumers for fuel to heat, as well as domestic electrical generation demand. Pick your poison.
Electricity prices might come down over time (renewables push down generation costs), natural gas prices won’t due to global demand for it.
- melling 9mo agoWhat happened to cheap home solar with batteries?
- onlyhumans 9mo agoYou don’t really make that much electricity in the winter when you need the heat
- zeroping 9mo agoI picked a random spot in New York state. It looks like the solar generation in January is about 68% of July. As solar keeps getting cheaper, one option is to just install more solar. Don't get me wrong, there are still issues here, like snow or back-to-back-to-back cloudy days. But the rate of a price change for solar has been pretty dramatic.
- rcdemski 9mo agoThat's my challenge in Colorado. I installed a modest solar system (5kwh) in 2024 and was incredibly happy with the results. On any given 24 hour period it'd offset 40% of my electricity consumption (EV, hot tub being the big loads). Last year I installed a cold climate heat pump. I'm incredibly happy with the switch from gas as my primary heat source. The solar now only covers ~15-20% of my consumption in winter. So my solution this year will be to add more solar. In the two years since I installed mine prices have halved. I'm fortunate enough to be able to do a DIY install, properly permitted and inspected, for about $350/400w panel once you factor in inverters, mounts, etc. It's an amazing time for affordable energy.
- abracadaniel 9mo agoInstallation costs dominate the price. I check every few years, and while the hardware is down to about $5k for me, cost for installation remained $45k-$50k. Which is where it’s been for years. Makes diy very attractive though.
- tapoxi 9mo agoHow big is that system? Without incentives mine was half that for 8kw.
- Izikiel43 9mo agoHow hard is it to DIY?
- sfblah 9mo agoThe installation is straightforward, but the problem comes when you want to connect to the grid, because you have to get it approved by the utility. I'm sure getting a DYI installation approved by the utility is _possible_, but I wouldn't count on it. And, you may not know that you got disapproved until you've made the investment and are sort of screwed. What I did was install solar with batteries and inverters that have the ability to never export power to the utility. That way I didn't have to tell them or seek their approval.
- plantain 9mo agoThat cost makes absolutely no sense. It takes one single day for a couple of people to install solar and batteries on a residential house.
- SR2Z 9mo agoBaumol's Cost Disease at work, I guess.
- ZeroGravitas 9mo agoIt's a third or fourth of the price in Australia with equivalent labor costs. It's mostly unnecessary red tape and a broken market that cause the differences.
- SilverElfin 9mo agoI haven’t paid attention to the change in my utility prices but my natural gas furnace is much cheaper for heating than my electric heat pump (I have both and my thermostat can pick). I believe our local electricity is almost fully from renewables already.
- Figs 9mo agoThe price of electricity where I am in California is pretty cheap for the energy itself -- I pay about $20/mo for generation -- but the cost for electricity delivery is absolutely fucking insane. It costs me $90 for "delivery" of that $20 worth of electricity.
- subscribed 9mo agoIf the press reports are accurate, your electricit infrastructure needs investments, so hopefully your money pays for that, and not someone's bonuses.