>But California has net metering, which is a huge, non sustainable subsidy.
Net metering can be a subsidy, but the act of paying for power is not inherently a subsidy, and should continue. There is no reason why people who generate power should not be paid market rate for it.
>Ad absurdum, consider if everyone purchased enough solar for their household to be net zero. The power companies would not be able to charge anything, but need to maintain the grid and provide power at night, cloudy days etc, with capital costs mostly the same as with 24x7 generation.
You're right, this is absurd. You've just declared power generation to be a cost free exercise.
>There's no way power companies would agree to net metering in a free market
I think it's absolutely hilarious that you can un-ironically use the phrase "free market" in the context of defending monopolistic power companies.
The reason why power companies don't agree to net metering is precisely BECAUSE it's the furthest possible thing from a free market (monopoly on infrastructure) and they don't like pesky competition.
> Net metering can be a subsidy, but the act of paying for power is not inherently a subsidy, and should continue. There is no reason why people who generate power should not be paid market rate for it.
I'm happy to talk about this, but you just seem to be looking for straw men to knock down, and are in this thread to push an agenda. My other post, made hours before your reply, says:
"The right thing to do (long term) is to treat those feeding power back into the grid as commercial customers/producers, where they're compensated and charged based on current market rates. Anything else distorts the incentives significantly"
i.e. my position is the exact opposite to what you're claiming, and agrees with your rebuttal to a point I never made.
> You're right, this is absurd. You've just declared power generation to be a cost free exercise.
No, net metering does that (more specifically, grid maintenance, and backup power generation). Which is my point.
>"The right thing to do (long term) is to treat those feeding power back into the grid as commercial customers/producers, where they're compensated and charged based on current market rates. Anything else distorts the incentives significantly"
i.e. net metering.
Position #2, which contradicts position #1.
>There's no way power companies would agree to net metering in a free market
>my position is the exact opposite to what you're claiming,
Correct. Also the exact opposite of what you claimed elsewhere.
>with your rebuttal to a point I never made.
"There's no way power companies would agree to net metering in a free market" = a point you made.
If your point was actually that net metering should not be a vehicle to deliver subsidies... well, you probably should have been more clear about your point, and if so, should be discussed only in the context of other subsidies and tariffs (e.g. heavy coal and natgas subsidies).
Net metering can be a subsidy, but the act of paying for power is not inherently a subsidy, and should continue. There is no reason why people who generate power should not be paid market rate for it.
>Ad absurdum, consider if everyone purchased enough solar for their household to be net zero. The power companies would not be able to charge anything, but need to maintain the grid and provide power at night, cloudy days etc, with capital costs mostly the same as with 24x7 generation.
You're right, this is absurd. You've just declared power generation to be a cost free exercise.
>There's no way power companies would agree to net metering in a free market
I think it's absolutely hilarious that you can un-ironically use the phrase "free market" in the context of defending monopolistic power companies.
The reason why power companies don't agree to net metering is precisely BECAUSE it's the furthest possible thing from a free market (monopoly on infrastructure) and they don't like pesky competition.