Energy is cheaper where the government has a public alternative. That goes for all utilities and services.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2026
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Well, they could be cheaper.
Or the power company -- the only one you're allowed to do business with -- could lower their production costs but leave your rates the same, pocketing the difference as profit.
At this point we should call it embezzlement instead of investment
Well maybe, but only if they owned the infrastructure themselves.
As it stands, the price paid to renewable energy suppliers tracks the amount paid to fossil fuel suppliers.
There's a reason every farmer wants to fill their fields with solar panels, and it's got little to do with making electricity cheaper for the end user.
That said, there's no reason not to do it anyway, at least if we want more than a few more hundred years of humanity. A tough ask in a time where every decision is made based on an election that happens in the next 4 years by people who won't live another 20.
When the price goes up it's because the renewables don't produce power when there is no wind and sun (which pretty much sums up January here). Building more of something that does not produce power is not going to help with the price shocks.
We need to figure out grid scale storage, fusion or build nuclear power to get rid of fossil fuels. Until then utility bills will be occasionally more shocking than jamming a fork in the outlet.
figure out grid scale storage, fusion or build nuclear power
You don't necessarily need that, actually. Another option is to invest in a larger, wider grid with more interconnects and more long-range transmission capacity.
Maybe the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing where you are ... but the sun is shining somewhere, and the wind is blowing somewhere. If you can transmit the power from those places to where you are (and vice versa) then you really don't need nearly as much storage capacity or continuous generation. If you can transmit power from farther away, that can really help even out the random variability in renewable power sources by averaging them out over a much wider area.
Another often-overlooked constant source of renewable energy is geothermal. Geothermal power plants can be extremely green and efficient, and their power capacity basically never changes at all. They're only viable in certain places that have geothermal hot spots, of course ... but once again, you can solve that by increasing long-range transmission capacity. Build massive geothermal plants in the few places where they're viable, and then transmit that power to all the places where geothermal isn't viable.
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I vaguely recall a lemming posting a highway outdoor advertising "Green coal" or something like that. Guess that's the green energy the USA govt is investing in (also crypto bros, because they got money to buy entire fucking power plants to run their stupid coins)
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Energy would be so abundant it'd be free, if we'd done Fusion 50 years ago.
Maybe Nuclear, given it can actually support the base load power, except they need to fully deregulate it first so Nimbys and lawsuits balloon the cost. It shouldnt cost more nowadays in inflation adjusted terms than France building them in the 70s.
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Plug and play solar and wind are the future:
- Solar
https://www.amazon.com/SOLPERK-Maintainer-Waterproof-Controller-Adjustable/dp/B08GX19KT9?
- Wind
https://www.amazon.com/pofluany-Generator-Controller-Turbines-Windmill/dp/B0D1VHSHNH?
- Wind, not plug and play, but you get the idea
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-500W-Wind-Turbine-Generator/dp/B0D3T9Q6QC?
- You would need a few of these and also not plug and play
This 500W vertical axis wind turbine utilizes a helical design and a permanent magnet generator to operate effectively in low wind speed environments. Its high power output and low starting wind speed make it ideal for maximizing energy production.
https://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Generator-Permanent-Intelligent-Controller/dp/B0DSC27VD1?
How does this handle grid power outages?
In my area, you're required to prevent back feeding if the grid goes down (otherwise it can be hazardous for the linemen repairing the issue).
It can also be hazardous for electricians or DIY home repairs if they don't know about it.
Oh, you think you're safe because you turned the house's power off at the main breaker? Forgot about the solar panels backfeeding into the panel -- all the circuits are still live!
(Or, even more fun, only half the breakers in the panel are still live, since the solar panels are only feeding into one of the two phases. So maybe you test to make sure the power is off by turning on the lights, and the lights don't turn on so you think you're safe. But the power outlets you're about to work on are on a different circuit, one that's on the same phase as the solar, so they're still live. Fun stuff!)
All that's to say... You should definitely still do home solar if you can. But document it well, and establish ways to disconnect power to ensure safety!
Just say it's better for AI and they're all for it
It would be cheaper to just end most of the oil subsidiaries and move some of those subsidies to solar/wind/etc. refineries and processing and distribution, while profits are private, are heavily funded by public tax or tax breaks on profits.
https://www.fractracker.org/2025/03/fossil-fuel-subsidies-free-market-myth/
Not necessarily
However, this misses the point. We need to modernize our aging infrastructure as it is on its last leg. It honestly doesn't matter what drives it as long as it gets done.