Seen on reddit and other sources:
https://old.reddit.com/r/fresno/comments/1hxqlx7/the_more_i_try_to_save_energy_the_higher_the/
Its already 50c or more per kilowatt hour… https://www.pge.com/assets/pge/docs/account/rate-plans/residential-electric-rate-plan-pricing.pdf
On top of the “The Electric Home Rate Plan includes a $15-per-month Base Services Charge”… because people were starting to get 100% of their power from solar and it was “unfair”.
You’re making the argument yourself here:
Yes. And that is true regardless of how heavily it is used, which means you should pay a flat rate for maintenance of the infrastructure you use, and another rate for the power you draw.
Residential buildings use standardised infrastructure, which then leads to the same standard fee for everyone. Industry that needs heavier equipment pays a different fee, because they require different infrastructure.
It’s not being used. The neighborhood is using the cheaper transformer, because it fully meets their needs.
They don’t install the big transformer until Cryptoboy moves in and drastically increases the neighborhood’s needs.
Why is the neighborhood evenly paying for that transformer upgrade? Why isn’t Cryptoboy paying for this upgrade?
The transformer is dimensioned based on the max capacity of the houses in the neighbourhood, which are standardised.
100 houses with 200 A main fuse each? Supplied by a 20 000 A transformer (plus safety margin obviously).
If cryptoboy wants a non-standard main fuse size that requires an upgrade of the transformer, he has to pay for that.
No, it isn’t. They use considerably smaller, cheaper transformers, based on the maximum expected load. A 500A transformer might serve ten 200A users.
Those ten users might never use more than 400A total, even though each of them might use 150A+ from time to time. It doesn’t make sense to install a 2000A transformer when it will never see more than 400A.