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Almost half of US states haven't done the bare minimum to cut utility bills. (grist.org)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/news

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A new report finds 24 states have yet to establish an “energy efficiency resource standard," which has been shown to curb demand, lower costs and reduce emissions.

top 33 comments

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 21 hours ago

Guess we'll know which 24 because the article didn't do the due diligence for a graph, a list, a graphic, anything.

[–] homesweethomeMrL 28 points 1 day ago

GOSH I WONDER WHICH STATES

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ohio's Republican supermajority handed the utility companies a really big win, causing energy prices to skyrocket for much if the state, in a massive bribery scandal.

[–] Bytemeister 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Larry Householder went to fucking jail for it, and the law is still on the books. Price per unit on my utilities is pretty low, but almost half (sometimes more) of my bill is additional fees.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

There was chatter from the governor about trying to repeal it. We'll see. I'm not convinced he wasn't in on it

[–] Bytemeister 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

The last chatter I heard from DeWine about it was "we shouldn't throw away a good law becuase of a bad guy" I'm sure damn near every repub in the statehouse is getting some sort of kickback for it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

This sounds like they're looking to remove the remaining bits. From 2 weeks ago.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/dewine-supports-repeal-of-remaining-scandal-ridden-firstenergy-legislation

[–] Bytemeister 1 points 2 hours ago

Well, at least that is something. Though they sure are slow-rolling a bill that steals from their constituents and everyone publicly trashes.

[–] TheD00d 1 points 17 hours ago

PUCO is a fucking joke.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They won't need to bother with that for 4 more years, either.

Edit: 4 more years minimum.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In California they have raised our rates 6 times. We reduce they increase.

[–] Crazyslinkz 20 points 1 day ago (1 children)

PG&E is for profit

SMUD is non-profit

I wonder which one raised rates...

[–] pbbananaman 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

All the PGE customers are forced to bear the costs associated with losses from fires caused by PGE in rural areas. If each city formed a municipal utility company, our prices would all be in line with SMUD since we’d only pay for the risks associated with ourselves. I’m guessing energy prices in the foothills would absolutely skyrocket. But I’d rather have cheaper power for myself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 23 hours ago

PG&E*

PGE is the electric utility for northwest Oregon.

[+] Skyrmir -32 points 1 day ago (3 children)

The US has had flat energy use for over a decade now. Which is great as far as emissions go, but honestly is extremely bad as far as civilization goes. Separate from energy prices or emissions, overall usage is a measure of overall activity. If our usage is dropping while population increases, then we're dying as a civilization.

An improving situation would be increasing usage, with decreasing carbon emissions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Yes, if lightbulbs went from 60W to 7W it totally makes sense for me to put 20 of them. /s

Dumbest argument ever.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Can you provide a source for your flat energy use argument?

[–] Skyrmir 2 points 18 hours ago

Google " total energy consumption" and pick your source. There's literally hundreds. It's an overall trend in most Western countries. Coal usage has dropped globally, renewable is up everywhere, which is all great and hopefully continues. Overall though, power consumption has stopped increasing 15 to 20 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Nonsense. Some things have become more efficient - like swapping 60W incandescent bulbs for 9W LEDs.

Civilization isn't dying 🤣

[+] Skyrmir -8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Efficiency is great, but should make energy cheaper, leading to more usage. Again especially with a growing population. Dropping energy usage means costs increased despite efficiency, or they decreased and there was no productive capacity to put that energy to use. Either way it's bad for the country.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Efficiency should not lead to more usage but to often it does. The example above shows that at a time we should have seen massive dips in usage as you say it just sorta leveled off which would indicate quite and increase in use. Lighting after all is one of the bigger eletric usages. Or I know it was in the time of filament bulbs.

[–] Skyrmir 0 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Efficiency lowers demand, which lowers prices, which should create opportunity for expansion and higher demand. Except prices have been rising, profits have been rising, and real energy investment has been flat. And you can see it across the entire western economy, not just the US. It's great that we've been moving to clean energy, the problem is that we're doing less over all as a civilization.

Think of it this way, fusion power is about to be an actual thing, making cheap clean energy on tap for the planet. And we're just going to sit and watch it glow, because no one can figure out what to do with limitless energy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

oh man. firstly using energy for energy usage sake is again a pattern but its generally due to waste and human nature. Laziness and indulgence. Secondly fusion is not about to be an actual thing. Thirdly when fusion becomes an actual thing it is not limitless energy. There are a whole bunch of limitations around the technology the will have cost. Very much the way fission was not limitless energy and its not because fissionable material is scarce its due to all the associated costs around fission. Even block hole energy won't be free limitless energy.

[–] Skyrmir 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Ok, try aluminum. Used to be super rare, rarely used. Now you can't throw a cat without hitting some. Production efficiency went through the roof, price dropped like a rock, and suddenly there's aluminum things everywhere. Efficiency created far greater demand due to the drop in cost. Energy is even more useful than aluminum, it literally makes aluminum. And yet, we're using less, as we get more efficient at making it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

aluminum replaces other materials in its use. energy is its own thing. using more aluminum for no real reason would not be good but we replaced things we made with other materials with aluminum once it was common but we don't use it for things aluminum would not be a better material to use it for.

[–] Skyrmir 1 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Energy is a base commodity, no different than aluminum, plywood, orange juice, oil or eggs. All of which increase as the population, thus demand and production, increase. And aluminum is used in a lot of structural applications where other materials would be far superior, but aluminum is a hell of a lot more affordable. It's not that it's the best material, it's the best material at that price, due to cheap efficient production.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly. Its a fungible item that can replace or be replaced by other things which energy is not. And your right that increased population will increase demand but we don't want to be increasing demand of anything as all the fungible commodities while being fungible are not inexhaustable.

[–] Skyrmir 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Lowering demand while increasing population means a lowering standard of living. That's how wars start, and we end up with extremist idiots in charge. If you want lower demand, lower, or stop growing the population. And also realize that most attempts to lower population growth will be massively unpopular. But again, the alternative is war and extremism.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Well the problem there is the increasing population which should not be happening as long as we are using more than a years worth of planetary resources each year.

[–] Skyrmir 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Agreed, but try telling people not to breed or worse do something to stop them. That's going to end almost as badly as over breeding in the first place. The difference being it would happen right then, rather than some inevitable future date.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

I don't believe underbreeding will end very badly. It means we have to handle things differently and getting back to growth is not incredibly tough. When it comes down to it we need to lower the wealth gap which will largely take care of the rest.

[–] Shardikprime 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

What's this, a voice with common sense I hear? Incredible. Upvoting before the mass downvotes arrive

[–] Skyrmir 1 points 15 hours ago

People be down voting like I'm calling for rolling coal in their front yards.