Utilities have avoided infrastructure development such as more solar generators, rooftop solar buyback incentives.
They avoided power storage development too.
They now complain that there’s too much fluctuation between peak solar hours and have to charge the people that were taking action on their own to avoid excessive power costs to make ends meet.
MyOpinion@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I make the investment and then don’t get the return. Sounds about right for the criminals at PG&E and their paid for people in office. Time to turn them into a not for profit public institution.
simplejack@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s so weird that a basic public utility is totally owned by a private company. Roads and water are maintained by the state in my county. Why not power?
Dearth@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Water is owned by private business on California too.
ElegantBiscuit@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Power, water, internet, healthcare, education, transit, there’s a lot of things that should be public utilities or at least with a convincing public option because of the clear conflict of interest between private corporations and social benefit, but aren’t, because money controls politics.
RageAgainstTheRich@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Here in europe we’re gonna have to pay the electrical company for the energy our own solar panels generate above a certain amount.
“Can we just turn them off?”
“No 😠”
MyOpinion@lemm.ee 2 months ago
That is nuts. We need to take back power from these companies.
Humanius@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Where in Europe is this? Europe isn’t a monolith, after all.
Here in the Netherlands we (currently) still have the “salderingsregeling” which is used to reimburse people for the solar they feed back into the grid, though that will eventually go away.
Paying people for solar on the roof is a bit tricky in general, and probably not sustainable long term:
nivenkos@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Because they have to give that energy away in order to keep the grid stable.
Hopefully better battery storage will make this better in the future.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 months ago
What happens if you just…don’t pay the bill?
CaptPretentious@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Are they providing support for the things?
5C5C5C@programming.dev 2 months ago
PG&E was literally the villain in the real life Erin Brockovich story.