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I will believe it when I see it. The only countries with both cheap and clean electricity are those that built out extensive nuclear or got lucky enough to hav

I will believe it when I see it. The only countries with both cheap and clean electricity are those that built out extensive nuclear or got lucky enough to have access to other forms of cheap base load like hydro / geothermal.

tapoxi 5d ago
Australia would disagree: https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-free-electricity https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-...
- mjmas 5d ago
  Becaude, as we all know, taxpayer-funded == free. And we banned nuclear, since it's scary.
  - tapoxi 5d ago
    It's not taxpayer funded, the grid has an overabundance of daytime solar that exceeds their capacity to store it.
    - mjmas 5d ago
      Here in Queensland the state owns the regional electricity company, Ergon. ∴ most of what they do that doesn't generate money (such as doing free electricity rather than charging for it) is taxpayer-funded.
      - anenefan 5d ago
        Even though the power here (North Central Queensland) isn't too expensive, Ergon is run with an aim to make a profit [1] [2] even if the last few years more infrastructure seems to be needing repairs due to changes in weather conditions and or replacing ancient old or relatively new poor quality wooden poles. Given the power here has periods where it barely goes a day without blinking out, or line repairs that can take almost 2 days now after a somewhat mild storm, there's been a large uptake of solar power panels, those that knew hooked up Island style where they can feed in their own small generator to take advantage of the panels during the day if there was no grid power, more recently batteries have become more affordable, making installation worthwhile. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergon_Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergon_Energy [2] https://www.energyq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2065843/Ergon-Energy-Queensland-Pty-Ltd-Annual-Financial-Report-2023-24.pdf https://www.energyq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/20658... [pdf] >Operating and financial review The Company’s profit after income tax equivalent expense was $80.919 million for the year (2023: $225.754 million loss). Revenue from sales of electricity is higher when compared to 2023 due to an increase in notified prices as published by the Queensland Competition Authority in 2024. Residential and small business tariff rates increased significantly for 2024 with price rises of 29 percent and 27 percent respectively. Large business tariff rates rose between seven and 17 percent. Expenses are marginally lower compared to 2023 predominantly due to a reduction in fair value losses. More stable electricity trading conditions contributed to lower market movements on forward electricity derivative contracts.
- PorciiVorbesc 5d ago
  Australia hasn't shot itself in the foot like EU's self inflicted policies.
- phillipinman 5d ago
  As an Australian I can say that for me personally the free energy periods have been amazing and are an example of the functional free markets making life better for the average person.
- consensus1 5d ago
  No, Australis ai a perfect example. Australia has an average electricity cost of close to 0.3 USD / kwh. That's not cheap. It's not clean either at 525g co2/kwh. The US is 0.19 USD / kwh and 384g co2/kwh. France is 0.22 USD/kwh and 41g co2 / kwh. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-mix?source=total&metric=carbon_intensity&frequency=annual https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-mix?source=to...

tapoxi 5d ago

Australia would disagree: https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-free-electricity https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-...

mjmas 5d ago
Becaude, as we all know, taxpayer-funded == free. And we banned nuclear, since it's scary.
- tapoxi 5d ago
  It's not taxpayer funded, the grid has an overabundance of daytime solar that exceeds their capacity to store it.
  - mjmas 5d ago
    Here in Queensland the state owns the regional electricity company, Ergon. ∴ most of what they do that doesn't generate money (such as doing free electricity rather than charging for it) is taxpayer-funded.
    - anenefan 5d ago
      Even though the power here (North Central Queensland) isn't too expensive, Ergon is run with an aim to make a profit [1] [2] even if the last few years more infrastructure seems to be needing repairs due to changes in weather conditions and or replacing ancient old or relatively new poor quality wooden poles. Given the power here has periods where it barely goes a day without blinking out, or line repairs that can take almost 2 days now after a somewhat mild storm, there's been a large uptake of solar power panels, those that knew hooked up Island style where they can feed in their own small generator to take advantage of the panels during the day if there was no grid power, more recently batteries have become more affordable, making installation worthwhile. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergon_Energy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergon_Energy [2] https://www.energyq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2065843/Ergon-Energy-Queensland-Pty-Ltd-Annual-Financial-Report-2023-24.pdf https://www.energyq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/20658... [pdf] >Operating and financial review The Company’s profit after income tax equivalent expense was $80.919 million for the year (2023: $225.754 million loss). Revenue from sales of electricity is higher when compared to 2023 due to an increase in notified prices as published by the Queensland Competition Authority in 2024. Residential and small business tariff rates increased significantly for 2024 with price rises of 29 percent and 27 percent respectively. Large business tariff rates rose between seven and 17 percent. Expenses are marginally lower compared to 2023 predominantly due to a reduction in fair value losses. More stable electricity trading conditions contributed to lower market movements on forward electricity derivative contracts.
PorciiVorbesc 5d ago
Australia hasn't shot itself in the foot like EU's self inflicted policies.
phillipinman 5d ago
As an Australian I can say that for me personally the free energy periods have been amazing and are an example of the functional free markets making life better for the average person.
consensus1 5d ago
No, Australis ai a perfect example. Australia has an average electricity cost of close to 0.3 USD / kwh. That's not cheap. It's not clean either at 525g co2/kwh. The US is 0.19 USD / kwh and 384g co2/kwh. France is 0.22 USD/kwh and 41g co2 / kwh. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-mix?source=total&metric=carbon_intensity&frequency=annual https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-mix?source=to...