Seen on reddit and other sources:
https://old.reddit.com/r/fresno/comments/1hxqlx7/the_more_i_try_to_save_energy_the_higher_the/
Its already 50c or more per kilowatt hour… https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/account/rate-plans/residential-electric-rate-plan-pricing.pdf
On top of the “The Electric Home Rate Plan includes a $15-per-month Base Services Charge”… because people were starting to get 100% of their power from solar and it was “unfair”.
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The electric grid needs a minimum amount of people using it.
We took profit for decades from letting our infrastructure decay. Now we still want that same amount of profit, so you have to pay more for us to fix all the problems that should have been fixed with that profit money in the past.
The other issue is the impact renewable energy has on the grid. Most renewables are either on or off instead of having a spinning generator. Rotation of a physical generator adds a lot of stability and makes it easier to sync the phase of the power. With things like solar panels you need to have a station to sync the phases which adds more things to worry about.
That is only an issue in very small grids that are entirely renewables in one location. And the impact of AI on the grid has been much more problematic than any renewable sources because it’s localized and its is sudden spikes in usage whereas spikes in generation can be mitigated with battery and capacitor tech. Spikes at the usage side need to either be mitigated by the user or the grid has to implement mitigation at just those locations which is more difficult to plan for.
“In order to continue to make the same profit (or more year over year) we charge more per unit when demand goes down… We also charge more when demand goes up… Suck it peasants”
It isn’t about profit. Its about paying for the infrastructure. It cost a lot of money to maintain the grid. The supply and demand has to meet exactly or the frequently of the power will get out of wack. (AC is hard)
If they can’t afford to maintain it in a changing world, perhaps we should nationalize the infrastructure that we all depend on.
It doesn’t say that it says most of their costs are fixed and cost of those large fixed costs are more so amortized per head than per kWh which means higher rates for less usage.
Are they a not for profit company? If not, it’s about profit
It is about profit. They don’t want to lose money.
I would be more sympathetic to this if they actually maintained their grid. It’s been shown time and time again that the company doesn’t replace parts that badly need it while paying their c suite enormous bonuses. I have no sympathy for this situation whatsoever
