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”.
That’s not really what it’s saying.
It’s saying if they sell less power then the cost per unit of power goes up. This is how all businesses work due to economies of scale. If you sell a lot of stuff then you can sell the stuff for less money and still make more money.
If you personally use less power then that won’t increase your price per unit enough to offset the savings you made by using less power.
It’s not how all businesses work. Many businesses lower prices when there is a surplus. Consider filling up at the gas station for example.
It’s ridiculous that energy prices would go up when they are spending less on natural gas, coal, or whatever they are using to create the power.
Honestly crap like this is just going to encourage those that can afford it to install solar panels and backup batteries to load up on cheap electricity. Then the power company is really going to throw a hissy.
The power generation facility itself still has massive overhead costs regardless of how much fuel they are using at any given time.
And? That cost is constant. It shouldn’t cause fluctuations in price.
There are fixed costs and proportional costs. Property taxes aren’t put on hold just because you aren’t running. A certain amount of maintenance will be needed whether or not you produce a watt of power. Some maintenance costs will increase the more power you produce, including fuel costs. All of these factors need to be taken into cosideration when determining how much any given watt costs to produce.
The gas station example still has this issue. The gas station’s fixed overhead costs are passed on to the customer. Divide those overhead costs by the number of gallons sold. Reduce the number of gallons sold, and the “overhead fee” per gallon increases.
i think the title has the “you” meant in the “you all” sense, if the customers as a whole save energy, the price per unit goes up.