Re: The Future of Cars, Assured-Running on Hydrogen
Posted by Dale on Jan 19, 2002 at 11:30
162.arc1.il-decatur1.fgi.net (204.212.222.70)Re: The Future of Cars, Assured-Running on Hydrogen (Mike Kremer)
Yes, and another unmentioned consequence of net metering is the bankruptcy and merging of energy companies in the US. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Wind power is EXPENSIVE with a capital E. The only way it is economical even for the private user is when the utility is forced to pay retail for the energy. But it replaces energy that costs less than a tenth of that to generate and this is why the companies either go bankrupt or have to raise electric rates drastically. It costs roughly a penny in the US to generate 1KWH. It costs about 8 cents to deliver it to the average user. 1 penny for profit and you pay 10 cents/kwh. When the utility is forced to buy wind power for 10 cents/kwh and then deliver it somewhere else, you can see it really puts a dent in the company’s profit margin. The government may be able to just print money and the environmentalists can advertise for people of little knowledge to send them gifts but the utilities have to make up that 8 cents somewhere and the only way to do that is to raise the price of electricity to everyone. The "environmentally friendly" companies that do it out of the goodness of their hearts just quietly raise the bills a little more to pay an ad agency to proclaim their goodness so no one complains about the price increase. The environmentally evil companies who refuse as long as possible so as not to have to raise prices are just evil in the eyes of the general public who don't have a clue what economics is all about.