Power Raid
We Exist To Win Premierships
We ARE heading down the California path, and it sucks, and i think we need government intervention to prevent it.
Scenario:
I want to invest in Energy.
If I invest in a gas power station i can probably sell most of what i produce. BUT , i know others are investing in Wind and Solar, and the Government is working on the Snowy Hydro storage system ( will the cost of this be applied to renewable's )? This means i don't know how much of my energy i will sell as more and more renewable's come online. In ten years time i may struggle to sell any power if the wind is blowing and/or the sun is shining.
That makes it very difficult to amortise my costs over the life of the power station. What if a carbon tax is re-introduced or other costs associated with generating CO2.
If i was crazy enough to invest in this option, i would be looking to minimise my capital, rather than producing the lowest emitting power station.
If i invest in Wind or Solar, i will probably sell everything i generate. I can look up average solar /wind conditions to work out what i will produce per year and be able to amortise the capital comfortably. Its unlikely that the government will introduce new legislation to hinder or render less profitable these sorts of power stations. Therefore i choose this one. What if there is no wind or sun, and there is a power shortfall? Someone else's problem.
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Should we expect an uninterrupted electricity supply?
Who should ensure that we have such an electricity supply?
Private power companies are not.
The answer is simple
Invest in profiteering infrastructure that kills the pig on points of failure rather than infrastructure that provides cheap, safe, clean, reliable power.
Who loses? Society