I’m an Australian living in Australia connected to the eastern grid.
I have the invoices from my electricity bills to prove my assertion.
I used to pay 12 cents per kilowatt hour, now I pay 36 cents or more. That’s a 300% increase for electricity prices vs, if I recall correctly, 26% for general inflation over the same 25 year period.
And you’re trying to tell me I’m wrong.
Why?
I’ll believe a drop in electricity prices when I see it.
Renewables do not reduce the need for grid investment costs between generators and you, that revenue and capital would be required regardless if you are unable or unwilling to produce all of the electricity to meet your domestic consumption requirements from rooftop solar and on site battery storage.
Wholesale generation costs + distribution costs + taxes = your bill.
> Renewables do not reduce the need for grid investment costs between generators and you,
You’re right, they don’t reduce grid costs.
They massively increase it.
We wouldn’t need much in the way of new grid infrastructure if new generation capacity was primarily combined cycle gas turbines, coal, and nuclear power plants, because these can largely be upgrades to existing generation sites.
And even where they are greenfields in new locations, gas / coal / nuclear are incredibly energy dense compared with wind or solar, thereby requiring less new high voltage transmission / distribution infrastructure.
Fact: Australia is happy to sell our gas a coal and uranium for the world to use. Why is it okay for others to burn our cheap coal, but not us? It’s the same atmosphere.
I have the invoices from my electricity bills to prove my assertion.
I used to pay 12 cents per kilowatt hour, now I pay 36 cents or more. That’s a 300% increase for electricity prices vs, if I recall correctly, 26% for general inflation over the same 25 year period.
And you’re trying to tell me I’m wrong.
Why?
I’ll believe a drop in electricity prices when I see it.