Electricity prices

[facthunter]

Of Course.  Farmers don't pay it either on farm use vehicles. Nev

[kgwilson]

If you are planning to install a battery to store your solar or a complete solar panels/battery system, consider  becoming a VPP (virtual power plant). I did & got an additional subsidy on my 18.4 kWh battery of $676.00. I joined Amber as the VPP Manager at a cost of $25.00 a month. Instead of getting just a few cents/kWh when the sun is shining & the rates are low, the system charges the battery till its full & sells the energy when the price is high. My average is 18.2c/kWh. All my costs are at wholesale rates so I pay the same to buy power as the Energy retailers. 

 

In Summer when there is too much solar in the grid the sale price goes negative. When that happens & my battery is full, the system curtails the solar production so none is exported. When there is a grid failure somewhere like a power station partial shutdown the spot price can go to $10.00/kWh or even more. When that happens the system will export energy at its maximum rate. In an hour I can be credited more than a couple of months electricity cost while helping to stabilise the grid.

[nomadpete]

Just to put the supply and demand influence on pricing, we should include data centres.

 

These things require grid reinforcement and generation increases far above population requirements. They now affect wholesale prices.

 

 

A single hyperscale data center can consume over 100 megawatts — comparable to the usage of tens of thousands of homes.

 

Australia already hosts 154 data centers across 77 cities, operated by 58 distinct operators. And plan for many more.

 

https://www.datacenters.world/countries/australia

[nomadpete]

Meanwhile, in USA, it is reported:

"Virginia hosts the world’s largest concentration of these facilities, and PJM’s independent market monitor found data centers drove 63% of last year’s capacity price increases across the regional grid. That cost doesn’t stay abstract. It lands on every ratepayer in the territory — a pattern familiar to those who’ve followed tech scandals where costs are quietly shifted onto ordinary people."

 

I suspect Australia will follow the American funding model.

[facthunter]

IF Hanson has anything to do with it, We will Ape Trump. Nev