This isn’t a choice issue. It should be state owned and operated in a non-profit capacity, and everyone should pay their fair share.
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sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 day agoIt’s more that they get a bulk discount, whereas Jamaica m individuals don’t, and apparently they can set the bulk discount below the generation cost.
It’s incredibly dumb and why I’d like there to be more choice. Instead of one company handling supply and service for industry and residents, there should be multiple companies handling supply and an independent org handling service. Basically, the suppliers would bring the electricity to the cities, and cities would handle it from there. Then they need to compete for the lowest cost energy, customers can pick which suppliers they’d like, and prices per KWh would be static regardless of customer (the only discount for large customers would be service).
arrow74@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had a great experience with government run services. Government is better at owning and setting rules about things than actually operating them. If it’s possible to have competition, then the government playing referee seems to provide a better result.
If a monopoly is unavoidable, then yeah, the government should be that monopoly. But as long as it’s feasible to have at least three competitors, it should be privately run.
arrow74@lemmy.zip 17 hours ago
My city owns all our utilities. Works the same, arguably more reliable
fosho@lemmy.ca 19 hours ago
you can leave the Jamaica M individuals the fuck out of this please.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 19 hours ago
Lol, struck it out.
BombOmOm@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Quite a few states actually have systems like this. In which individuals can choose their power generator at will. It is nice as it increases competition and lets you tailor energy use to your wants.
If you want 100% green, switch to a generator that does that. If your default utility gets too expensive, switch to a cheaper one, etc.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
The closest we have is buying green energy in blocks, which means you reserve that much generation capacity. In theory, they have to build more capacity if demand outstrips suooly, but if they produce more than is reserved, they just sell at the normal (lower) rate. If you use less than you reserve, you just pay more.
It’s a wonky system and I’d prefer to choose by provider instead. At least our electricity provider has to ask the state legislature for permission to raise prices, so that’s nice. Energy here isn’t all that expensive (around the nationwide median) and moving toward green energy, but I think I’d prefer a more competitive system.