4 ms·

I can tell you've never dealt with an HOA or Strata before. Neighbourhood-level organizations of busybodies are way ahead of everyone else on winning the race t

by vkou 7mo ago

I can tell you've never dealt with an HOA or Strata before. Neighbourhood-level organizations of busybodies are way ahead of everyone else on winning the race to shittification. Putting them in charge of your electricity won't be all sunshine and rainbows.

fc417fc802 7mo ago
I'd rather the county utility manage such a neighborhood level grid; I don't trust my neighbors over the long term to consistently make good decisions regarding such technical matters. But then that's sort of what the major grid operators already do with smaller localized circuits. It's just that it was all built multiple decades ago with centralized unidirectional distribution in mind.
- PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
  > the county utility the what now?
  - fc417fc802 7mo ago
    Do you not have a utility that covers one or a few counties where you live? Here it's some sort of strange public-private partnership scheme with private investment, strictly capped profits, and a few publicly elected officials at the top. I've also lived in places where the local government owned and managed the entire grid themselves, including directly employing the workers. I've also lived in places where the operation was entirely privatized (IIRC there was some sort of rate cap and a broad SLA in exchange for being granted the natural monopoly).
    - PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
      Here in New Mexico (USA), all power generation and distribution is privatized but theoretically overseen by a Public Regulation Committee. There are some co-operative generation and/or distribution organizations, but these are still private (and very regional in scope). No actual public utilities at all, though many here would like that.
      - fc417fc802 7mo ago
        Sure so in that context by county utility I mean the regional provider. In short if it involves hundreds of kilowatts of power and a timescale measured in multiple decades I want a large stable body consisting of professional specialists to manage it. I don't trust an HOA or other gathering of non-expert locals with potentially high turnover with that sort of infrastructure. Even the battery installation for a large house borders on questionable. That's not a utility closet your average person should be wandering into under any circumstances and it's easy to run up a massive bill in an instant (if you aren't lucky you might simultaneously kill yourself) but at least that's limited to your personal property.

by vkou 7mo ago

fc417fc802 7mo ago

I'd rather the county utility manage such a neighborhood level grid; I don't trust my neighbors over the long term to consistently make good decisions regarding such technical matters. But then that's sort of what the major grid operators already do with smaller localized circuits. It's just that it was all built multiple decades ago with centralized unidirectional distribution in mind.

PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
> the county utility the what now?
- fc417fc802 7mo ago
  Do you not have a utility that covers one or a few counties where you live? Here it's some sort of strange public-private partnership scheme with private investment, strictly capped profits, and a few publicly elected officials at the top. I've also lived in places where the local government owned and managed the entire grid themselves, including directly employing the workers. I've also lived in places where the operation was entirely privatized (IIRC there was some sort of rate cap and a broad SLA in exchange for being granted the natural monopoly).
  - PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
    Here in New Mexico (USA), all power generation and distribution is privatized but theoretically overseen by a Public Regulation Committee. There are some co-operative generation and/or distribution organizations, but these are still private (and very regional in scope). No actual public utilities at all, though many here would like that.
    - fc417fc802 7mo ago
      Sure so in that context by county utility I mean the regional provider. In short if it involves hundreds of kilowatts of power and a timescale measured in multiple decades I want a large stable body consisting of professional specialists to manage it. I don't trust an HOA or other gathering of non-expert locals with potentially high turnover with that sort of infrastructure. Even the battery installation for a large house borders on questionable. That's not a utility closet your average person should be wandering into under any circumstances and it's easy to run up a massive bill in an instant (if you aren't lucky you might simultaneously kill yourself) but at least that's limited to your personal property.