Forum Post: Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities
Posted 10 years ago on April 29, 2013, 9:32 p.m. EST by quantumystic
(1710)
from Memphis, TN
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Solar power and other distributed renewable energy technologies could lay waste to U.S. power utilities and burn the utility business model, which has remained virtually unchanged for a century, to the ground.
http://grist.org/article/solar-panels-could-destroy-u-s-utilities-according-to-u-s-utilities/
Utilities in the metro area are guaranteed a profit by law. So unless everyone goes off grid, which will never happen, they will always be profitable.
We can also really screw with the U.S. power utilities if we were to suddenly use less electricity.
Have you all switched over to LED lights yet?
If people could afford to use all of the electricity they wanted, then energy use would skyrocket (more heating in the winter, more cooling in the summer, longer hot showers and baths). Also, if electric cars become popular, then this could cause an extreme drain on the power grid.
In California there is some controversy about home owners with solar panels not being able to sell all of their surplus electricity to the power companies. Yesterday I passed some one's home with solar panels, and this person had a free recharging station for electric cars set up in front of the home next to the curb (maybe because the home owner's surplus electricity could not be sold to the utility company?)
The utility companies could solve this problem by charging (or increasing) a minimum use fee (such as 25 dollars a month for residential customers) to cover the cost of building and maintaining the power grid. This would be similar to the minimum monthly charge that telephone users get every month for their local and long distance service.
However, those households that spend less than 25 dollars a month of utilities would say that a minimum use fee is unfair. Thus, a minimum usage fee would benefit those that use a lot of electricity, and penalize those that do not.
i can't figure out if you are genuinely asking questions or just so uninformed that you sound like a troll.
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I think this is a long way off, maybe fifty years. Multiple states suffer from “brownouts” during summer because the demand is more than supply. Also, solar panels are still too expensive for most people. In the short term we’re still hostage to the power companies. They tend to gouge anyway. So the sooner the this happens the better.
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50 years try 5.
Out with the old and in with the new.
If they go down ( the old utilities as they are ) - Whose fault is that ? For stubbornly refusing to grow and improve.