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Comment by nobody9999 | Hacker News Reader

>> Except that I have more choices for power providers than I do for internet

>I've lived in over 15 different places in the US, and I have never, ever had more than 1 option for power provider.

In NYC, Con Edison[0] delivers power to customers. It also generates power, but other power generation companies share their delivery infrastructure in NYC.

As such, there are at least half a dozen folks I can buy my power from. But all of it is delivered by Con Edison -- which, by the way, charges more for delivery than it does for the power itself.

This may well be different from other places in the US/world, but that's how it is here.

N.B.: I too, have only two choices (spectrum and RCN) for broadband where I live, but (as I mentioned) at least half a dozen power providers.

[0] https://www.coned.com/en

Edit: Added the missing link

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This seems like a specific feature to NYC.

It was also possible when I lived in Boston, see for example: https://www.energyswitchma.gov/#/compare/2/1/02108//

In SF I have two power generation options and one delivery option. It’s stupid because one of the generation options is both cheaper and greener (I don’t know of any reason to prefer the other), and delivery is literally 3x the generation cost so it doesn’t matter much either way.

In bay area I can choose between PG&E and Silicon Valley Clean Energy for power. PG&E even handles the billing for SVCE.

In Finland there was local monopoly for delivery and power could be bought from numerous companies. I just checked offers for my old place and I could choose between 250 different products, some from same companies (e.g. fixed term/permanent, guaranteed wind power, market rate). In there you would get separate bill from your power company rather than it being handled by the local delivery company.

US Law often requires power generators to operate separately from distributors. Even when it's the same company, they have to operate as two separate businesses, and it's illegal for them to even mention certain information to each other as it's considered anti-competitive. The purpose is to allow the market to provide competition. This is not specific to NYC.

An Introductory Guide to Electricity Markets regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: https://www.ferc.gov/introductory-guide-electricity-markets-...

Deregulation and competition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_Unit...

It may seem specific to NYC, but it's also that way in many other places in the US -- places like Ohio, and Texas. https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/energy-deregu...

A combination of some napkin math and 2020 Census data suggests that ~35% of the US population lives in a state that the above article declares to be "fully deregulated".

How do the different power supply companies give the power to con edison to deliver it?

Wires.

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