The duck curve. From Arnold Reinhold – Own work based on data from caiso.org, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h / t Alan; In a desperate attempt to contain the damage that government-subsidized rooftop solar power has done to the power grid, Western Australia is testing a pricing system that offers cheap electricity around midday when no one wants it, and then hits high prices when solar power wears off in the early evening.
Electricity prices in WA would be lowered during the day and doubled during the peak as part of a new government process
By Daniel Mercer
Electricity prices would be cut by more than two-thirds in the middle of the day as part of a trial to encourage households to absorb excess solar energy in Western Australia’s largest power grid.
At peak times in the evening, however, customers would have to pay almost twice as much for their electricity as the state government tries to support the supply and reduce costs in the system.
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With the projections that the number of installations could nearly double by 2030, the government will conduct a test that will encourage customers to shift more of their usage to mid-day.
As part of the trial, 400 customers of the state-owned electricity supplier Synergy only pay eight cents for each unit of electricity they draw from the grid between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., compared to a flat rate of 28.8 cents per kilowatt hour (c / kWh).
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Opposition energy spokesman David Honey called the changes bad policy, arguing that lifetime tariffs tended to benefit poorer households and wealthier ones.
“What WA Labor doesn’t understand is that there are a lot of Western Australian families who just can’t change the times they use energy,” Honey said.
“The working poor who don’t have swimming pools and lots of freezers simply don’t have high energy consumption that can be shifted to other times of the day.
“Likewise, Western Australians who can’t afford batteries and solar panels are missing out.”
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Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/wa-government-power-market-trial-to-protect-grid/12986348
If only Western Australia had invested in nuclear power plants that produce reliable 24/7 carbon-free electricity instead of trying to force people at higher costs, people would have to change their way of life to adapt their lives to their useless green energy system.
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