That's not how the relationship between electricity price and demand works. If your electricity price skyrockets it takes about three billing cycles before households say, hmm, maybe we should consider unplugging the toaster when we're not using it, see if that helps, etc. The elasticity doesn't accommodate special time-sensitive circumstances; it would merely be gouging.
Not sure what you mean. Texas has a wholesale electric price that updates every 5 minutes and there are plans you can use that you pay wholesale price at the time + delivery instead of a flat rate. Normally it is around 2 cents a kWh plus 3.92 cents delivery per kWh, but it shot up to over $9 per kWh because demand was so high. That could easily costs you hundreds of dollars to run your HVAC system for an hour. Luckily I saw this coming because I was using Griddy for a while and was able to switch to a plan that charged only 7.5 cents per kWh. Next day that company removed that plan and switched to a 15cents per kWh plan.
Yeah, being on a moment-to-moment plan like Griddy sounds great until you realize it's a lot like shorting stocks, it has infinite downside. You're not going to learn how much the price has shot up for the last 5 minutes until you've already used it.
That's not how the relationship between electricity price and demand works. If your electricity price skyrockets it takes about three billing cycles before households say, hmm, maybe we should consider unplugging the toaster when we're not using it, see if that helps, etc. The elasticity doesn't accommodate special time-sensitive circumstances; it would merely be gouging.
Not sure what you mean. Texas has a wholesale electric price that updates every 5 minutes and there are plans you can use that you pay wholesale price at the time + delivery instead of a flat rate. Normally it is around 2 cents a kWh plus 3.92 cents delivery per kWh, but it shot up to over $9 per kWh because demand was so high. That could easily costs you hundreds of dollars to run your HVAC system for an hour. Luckily I saw this coming because I was using Griddy for a while and was able to switch to a plan that charged only 7.5 cents per kWh. Next day that company removed that plan and switched to a 15cents per kWh plan.
Yeah, being on a moment-to-moment plan like Griddy sounds great until you realize it's a lot like shorting stocks, it has infinite downside. You're not going to learn how much the price has shot up for the last 5 minutes until you've already used it.
The grid operator is legally required to shut off all businesses usage first. If it is found out they did not do this there will be hell to pay.