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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  587 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Californians asked to cut power use as extreme heat approaches

I think there's too many variables here to really have an argument.

When I lived in North Hollywood, it was me and 7 families on Section 8, parching in the sun and running 30-year-old window-rattlers 24-7. We were uncomfortable and were consuming 1500 watts 24-7. My buddy up the street in Sherman Oaks? had a 3-ton AC unit cooling his 2000sqft home that also pulled down 1500 watts... half of the time.

The Section-8ers don't have storage batteries. They're renters, and their power is never not running their AC. Sherman Oaks? That's a tax write-off. The more money you throw at this, the more class warfare you're practicing. Especially since Sherman Oaks is gonna buy Smart Chargers that discharge your battery pack into the house during peak hours to cut your electricity usage. Especially since Sherman Oaks is gonna buy solar panels that are going to sell power during the day and buy it back at night. Especially since this is all going to be managed by LADWP, the most scandal-ridden utility this side of PG&E.

But I mean, "millions of EVs" aren't going to happen all at once. What will happen is rich people will buy them due to tax benefits and general richness and they'll steadily trickle down. Poor people will be the last to own them because my Section 8 building isn't going to add parking lot charging until it makes economic sense - Vera was a nice lady, but she was clear-eyed about the service she provided.

Theoretically? Outfits like Solar City should middle-man this stuff to make it work better. Practically? The only firms getting money are grifters rolling mortgage arbitrage. Which is a long way to say "here's a guess."

IF: LADWP charges you 24 cents a kW/h during the day and 20 cents at night

AND IF: you use 50kW/h in your Tesla getting to work and back

THEN you save $40 a month charging at night. If you fuck up and need to charge during the day, it's going to cost you $2.

I would argue that the goal isn't to ensure nobody ever charges during the day, the goal is to shape behavior. Presume you use 100 kW/h - basically 4000W every hour, averaged over 24. That's a 3-ton AC unit and a toaster going all the time. If you've got a 50kW/h battery in the garage, you cut your power in half during the day and double it at night - you're saving $4 but spending $2. That's going to save you $750 or so every year. Not a slam-dunk? But if those batteries cost you $15k they're a break-even over 20 years. Will they last 20 years? No. Will rates go up? Yes. When I was in LA, power was 12c. It's now 24. It's been seven years. Who benefits the most from this? THE POWER COMPANY.

Frankly, I feel like we're on the cusp of capitalism solving this problem.