[mythtv-users] [Slightly OT] solar power for all our gadgets

[Jeff Walther]

Marc wrote:

> Oh, I see. My bad then, I had assumed you had a tiered rate too. In that
> case forget what I said.
> I think an easier way to look at this is that if you don't pay over
> 15c/KwH, solar doesn't quite make sense yet.

The only tier in our structure is that the first 500 KWH per month are at
a lower rate.  After that (last time I checked, within the last 12 months)
the rate is about $.12/KWH.

> It depends on where you get your power from. If it is from burning some
> kind of fuel, fossil, or gas, it will go up sooner or later.
> If you get hydro or nuclear, those are cheap actually.

We get about 20% of our electricity from the South Texas Nuclear Plant,
against which many Austinites screamed and wailed when the city bought
into it.   It is now the city's most affordable and most reliable source
of power--also the cleanest.

We get some little bit of wind from West Texas and the rest is a mixture
of natural gas and coal/lignite.

>> I must say, though, if your power is that expensive, you guys need about
>> a dozen new nuclear power plants, rather than futzing about with all
>> those subsidies for over-priced power.
>
> Dude, I'm all with you on that one. I think the public is finally coming
> around on that one. It's about fscking time.

Unfortunately, it's a little late now.  Historically, lead times are about
10 years.  There are those who think they can build them in 5 years with
standardized designs, which would be nice.

The truly sad thing is that if we (USA) had built just ten nuclear power
plants of normal capacity per year since 1980, we would now emit zero
carbon from producing our electricity in this country--with the exception
of load balancing generation.

So, the anti-nuclear lobby caused our contribution to global warming.  I'm
still waiting for them to admit it and change their stance...

Unfortunately, a bunch of the USA public let themselves be frightened into
going along with them, and did not think through the consequences--which
is now expensive electricity in much of the country and carbon emissions
from coal plants elsewhere.  It's not possible to turn on a dime and
correct their mistake.  We're all going to be stuck with the cost of their
ignorance.

Expensive electricity may not sound so bad to some, but here in Texas it
kills, because summer heat quite literally kills the sick, the very young
and the elderly and folks in those groups are often the least able to
afford cooling.

Jeff Walther