“One problem is that if everyone reduces their electricity usage, the local utility will run off crying that their profits are down and get to raise their rates so I pay the same amount for less electricity.”
That works so well here with water usage the utility has to raise fees due to the less usage of water.
Yep, I have been experiencing this for several years now. We keep doing stuff to reduce our usage, and the bill keeps going up anyway.
“One problem is that if everyone reduces their electricity usage, the local utility will run off crying that their profits are down and get to raise their rates so I pay the same amount for less electricity.”
Just read where APS (The electric utility in Arizona) is asking for a substantial rate increase to “offset” the negative effects of the increased use of residential solar panels. Personally, I believe that in many localities, the local elctric utility may go the way of the Dodo bird.
Tesla is working on a solar home charging station for their cars coupled with a hot swappable battery pack, because they know that the availability of a reliable source to recharge their cars isn’t available today if people start buying their cars in volume.
In my area, not only did they raise the rates, but they are charging us for the rain.