PopeRatzo's Journal: Energy Industry Under Attack from Green Terrorists

"Just the other day, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers said, 'If the cost of solar panels keeps coming down, installation costs come down and if they combine solar with battery technology and a power management system, then we have someone just using [the grid] for backup.' What happens if a whole bunch of customers start generating their own power and using the grid merely as backup? The EEI report warns of 'irreparable damages to revenues and growth prospects' of utilities."

Solar Panels Could Destroy U.S. Utilities

How many scandals are necessary

[smittyoneeach]

. . .to underscore the need to let markets, not crony capitalists, figure this noise out.

Re:

[PopeRatzo]

crony capitalists

It's the inevitable cancer-stage of capitalism.

Re:

[smittyoneeach]

It's all collapsing into a single, Socialist state, I'll give you that.

Less risk and more profit from the micro-producers

[evought]

What happens if a whole bunch of customers start generating their own power and using the grid merely as backup?

EDF published figures years ago that the risk/reward for utilities building new plants to meet demand is not good. If micro-installation alternative energy takes off, then the grid will still be needed for backup power, for new construction, and a lot of other things; it may be less fragile and its profit margins may end up actually being higher with fewer risky capital-intensive investments. So, no, I don't think that is a legitimate worry.

The other side of the coin is that the utilities can hedge that ris

Re:

[PopeRatzo]

The Xantrex Trace whole-house inverter we are using costs a third of what the local utility would have required and even after adding the true-sine circuit for sensitive electronics, we still save enough that the small profit from grid-tie is just not that exciting.

That's fascinating. I have a lot to learn. I would love to see "grid-optional" become more practical.