Quote:
Originally Posted by thingstodo
Utility companies everywhere only raise rates. They never go down.
As the infrastructure (power distribution) needs upgrading, they raise the rates for their capital costs.
In Saskatchewan, most of our transformers and transmission lines were installed in the 1950's and 1960's. The transformers had between 30 and 50 years design lifetimes. The utility - SaskPower - is upgrading as fast as their budget allows, but they are falling further behind ... not catching up. We're running on borrowed time.
We are paying about $0.14 per kwh flat rate now. I expect that to rise into the $0.20 range in the next 5 years. I don't expect time-of-day rates for at least 10 years. This utility is not progressive.
They also have a bunch of hardware that needs to be upgraded to deal with intermittent renewables coming onto the grid.
I have to stop talking, and put my money where my mouth is  |
The cost to deliver power per capita increases as population density decreases. I'd expect a lot of infrastructure per capita is required in Saskatchewan.