34 ms·

If it's raised for everyone one that's just not true. For the very poor even a small increase in their bills could have huge implications that you and I just ca

If it's raised for everyone one that's just not true. For the very poor even a small increase in their bills could have huge implications that you and I just can't appreciate. And they're the ones who can't necessarily just pack up and leave because they don't have the resources to. Raising the rates for the right parties is what we should really be talking about but the question then is, who? Small farms and industry would be hit very hard but the ones with deep pockets likely wouldn't blink and they're the biggest problem. In my opinion it would need to be a sliding scale. Not just a "$x for n gallons" pricing structure but the more you use the greater the cost per gallon. That would hit the biggest users the hardest while leaving the average person unaffected (unless for some reason they're using absurd amounts in which case they need to be affected).

drewcrawford 12y ago
We have a system like what you describe here, but for electricity. The "problem" is that the large users go off the grid (via solar, etc). Well, that is not a problem. The problem is that this introduces variability into the grid. That variability is expensive to smooth over, with the result that it can actually be more expensive as a fully loaded cost to supplement your power with solar than getting it from the grid, due to the equipment needed to manage the sun's mood swings. The result of all this is it is really hard to get the incentives right for pricing electricity. I suspect the same is true for water; it is hard to store, there are demand spikes, and there are things like private wells that have weird effects on the water available to everyone else.
- jrs235 12y ago
  Easy solution, don't allow people to connect/add power to the grid. Want solar panels? Great! Use your panel power or lose it (or store on your own batteries but no hooking up to the grid and selling it to others). Or, if you want to hook up to the grid because you don't want to waste that energy then give it freely to the transmission company who has overhead managing the lines and smoothing out the power loads.

drewcrawford 12y ago

We have a system like what you describe here, but for electricity. The "problem" is that the large users go off the grid (via solar, etc). Well, that is not a problem. The problem is that this introduces variability into the grid. That variability is expensive to smooth over, with the result that it can actually be more expensive as a fully loaded cost to supplement your power with solar than getting it from the grid, due to the equipment needed to manage the sun's mood swings. The result of all this is it is really hard to get the incentives right for pricing electricity. I suspect the same is true for water; it is hard to store, there are demand spikes, and there are things like private wells that have weird effects on the water available to everyone else.

jrs235 12y ago
Easy solution, don't allow people to connect/add power to the grid. Want solar panels? Great! Use your panel power or lose it (or store on your own batteries but no hooking up to the grid and selling it to others). Or, if you want to hook up to the grid because you don't want to waste that energy then give it freely to the transmission company who has overhead managing the lines and smoothing out the power loads.