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Joe Six Pack already pays a basic charge for his access to the grid. The issue seems to be that PoCos have decided to mix all the infrastructure costs into the
by revelation 13y ago
Joe Six Pack already pays a basic charge for his access to the grid.
The issue seems to be that PoCos have decided to mix all the infrastructure costs into the variable price of the energy you consume. When your solar power makes you a net producer of energy, that scheme no longer works. But I don't see why we have to institute a new tax to fix their broken pricing model.
- AnthonyMouse 13y agoThe problem is the more accurate pricing model won't make people happy. Distribution costs are largely fixed. It matters more how far your house is from the substation, and what the population density is, than how thick the wire is or how many KWh are pushed through it. Including the distribution costs in the price per KWh is a form of price discrimination -- people who need more energy (which implies "need energy more" or "are price insensitive") pay more for distribution than others. It makes those people unhappy, but those people are a minority without the will or political influence necessary to change it. Charging a fixed cost for distribution would reduce prices for high energy users and raise prices for low energy users. The low energy users are, in general, the most price sensitive. They would become very irate and try to exert political pressure on the power company. Of course, that doesn't mean we should let them. But it isn't the power company who causes this; the power company is just responding to politics and the market.