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Comment by MisterBastahrd | Hacker News Reader

As someone who has been blissfully oblivious to electricity prices due to a 36 month contract at $0.10/kWh, I looked up the recent rates and saw that they're now in the $0.15/kWh range. Makes me a bit more receptive to biting the bullet and just going with solar with battery if this trend is going to continue in that fashion.

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As someone in a corrupt country with tons of sun, I can't wait to be independent of the price-gouging grid.

Where I am, the local council/county co-organises group-purchasing deals of solar and battery systems. There are constantly incentives offered for solar or more energy- or water-efficient options at home.

Not sure where you're at but in California the gov't incentivized everyone to install rooftop solar and now that Sempra isn't increasing revenue at the same rate they did before, they're aggressively lobbying to increase rates on rooftop solar customers to make up for it.

I'm very eager to get off the grid completely and be rid of this profit-chasing nonsense.

I know this is going to get me a bunch of responses about how much more pressure is on the grid because of EVs, solar doesn't help during off-peak hours, etc. Boo-hoo cry me a river. These energy companies have gotten billions in gov't grants and credits and they're still massively profitable and continue gouging customers.

I'm in Greece, which is basically the same, except the money lines the politicians' pockets as well as the energy companies'.

I'm not quite as frustrated as you yet.

But I am disappointed. Economies of scale should dictate better community coverage and service - not worse than individuals can do themselves.

unless the state will make a law so that you'll pay tax for energy you produce(and i mean produce, not export). This stuff (almost) passed in Romania

are those us dollars or a different currency? i hear prices in california are much higher than that in us dollars

That price could easily be dollars. Most places in the US have far cheaper electric rates than California. Three years ago I had a pretty similar rate in Texas. I'm in a similar boat, my 11¢/kWh plan just finished and new rates were ~14¢+.

USD. I live in Texas and locked in a 3 year rate. It comes with a larger cancellation fee ($250ish), but if I'm doing 1500-2000kWh a month most months, I'm easily saving money even if I cancel before the year is even up because the rate difference is usually 1.5-2c.

thanks!

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