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Comment by nxm | Hacker News Reader

For context: $0.18/kWh in US vs. $0.32/kWh in France and $0.36/kWh Germany. The administration is making an attempt to address the issue of every growing demand for more electricity and remove barriers for additional power to come on-line. "To compete globally, we must expand energy production and reduce energy costs for American families and businesses." https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-wright-acts-unleas...

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> The administration is making an attempt to address the issue of every growing demand for more electricity and remove barriers for additional power to come on-line

By cancelling and stalling solar and wind projects while propping up coal of all things? That makes no sense.

Look at the biggest products of the areas around Washington DC. You'll find coal, more coal, and "things we found while mining coal"

Solar and wind projects are not a panacea. They consume minerals and fossil fuels at a rate that the church of climatology never discuss, and actively surpress.

So does every source of energy. No one claims they're a panacea. They obviously do reduce use of fossil fuels overall though, and are cheaper.

Did renewable energy hurt you as a child or something?

I know they're removing subsidies for solar and wind, but are they going beyond that? Leveling the playing field (and finally admitting that intermittent sources require batteries in order to be compared to true base load alternatives) seems like a rational thing to do.

Some states have vastly higher energy costs, tho, don't they? Bit weird to compare the whole US to selected European countries, which represent completely different energy strategies and subsidy policies, while also being heavily affected by the war in Ukraine.

Yeah, new england for example has high energy costs because of 1) a lack of local energy sources and 2) reluctance to build new gas pipelines.

> selected European countries

The two largest in the EU by population (20% and 15%) and GDP (24% and 16%).

Well, yes, then compare them to California and Texas not some mix of flyover states.

I mean, what’s the point anyway? Taxes, subsidies, natural resources, industry and geography are so vastly different between those countries.

It's $0.11 kWh here and we have plenty of renewables and a growing population. OTOH I have city owned utilities and not a public company.

For comparisons sake the average is $0.076/kWh in China and $0.074/kWh in India.

I pay $0.0825/kWh in the Southern US.

Here in California I'm paying close to 0.60/kwh. Throw a rock across the border to Nevada and I'm paying 0.10/kwh

>For context: $0.18/kWh in US vs. $0.32/kWh in France and $0.36/kWh Germany.

That's as may be, but my electricity bill is 1/3 for kwhs of electrcity, and 2/3 for "delivering" said power.

As such, it seems like France and Germany may have an advantage there, no?

It’s the same for me in Texas, delivery is easily 2/3 of my bill and fluctuates wildly. It’s not part of my quoted rate either, just tacked on.

I'm in another European country. Here it's combined into the final kWh price rather than a separate line item. 7c/kWh for transmission fees.

The grid is owned and managed by a government entity, so the price is set by them with parliament oversight. Last year they had to reduce the price (from 10c/kWh), as they found out they'd been overcharging people for a few years and had a few hundred million surplus of revenue.

And yes they are investing quite a lot to modernise the equipment and put high voltage powelines underground (lots of forests here). My country has a population density comparable to Texas.

I have my last electricity bill, from France, something that's indexed on the "public price" (so it's possible you get extra discount, but I bet it's representative)

Electricity itself is priced at around 0,14 €/kWh (sparing you the 6th significant digits), so roughly $0,16/kWh at current exchange rates and taxes of of 0,034 €/kWh ($0,039/kWh).

Let's round it to up to $0.17/kWh, which is surprisingly close to your number.

The additional taxes are a "flat" fee of 1,8 €/month (2 $/month),

Then there is the registration itself, with sits at about $15 / month. (I can challenge myself to getting bills where the registration and taxes are bigger than the actual current.)

I'm not sure how I would get a nice number in "€/kWh", though ?

I actually checked a recent bill and it's ~USD0.012/kwh (EU0.10), plus taxes and fees (total cost ~USD0.13/kwh or EU0.11) for the actual electricity.

Then there's a USD0.175 fee for "delivery," plus an additional ~50% in taxes and fees for "delivery (total cost ~USD0.26/kwh or EU0.22) for "delivery."

Total cost: USD0.38/kwh or EU0.33

N.B.: The above detail was for the month of June. Prices do fluctuate and I'd expect that electricity prices for July, especially as hot as it's been here, will be more than for June.

>I'm not sure how I would get a nice number in "€/kWh", though ?

I just divided total cost, including taxes and fees (for electricity and for delivery) by the number of kwh used.

That's not very exact as some of the fees do not vary by usage, but I figured it was close enough.

0.16€/kWh in a western European country. 0.60$/kWh in California.

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