Here's a controversial take: electricity is incredibly cheap for the utility it provides.
It is also a fairly well working market in the current system context.
I witnessed this by working for an electricity related startup and by doing all the math involved it was really hard to make the math work out right. The possibility to optimize is there but the margins are really slim, even with the large price swings in the time of use markets in EU.
Can the infrastructure be better? Absolutely, it needs ton of work, but again margins are slim and incentives for large improvements are small.
Do we have a dire need for renewable and moreover dispatchable renewable energy? Absolutely. This means more clean generation and more storage (quite hard).
Does energy feel expensive for households? Yes.
Is it actually expensive?
Could you imagine life without it?
What would it be like?
If you were in this situation, how much would you be willing to pay then?
> Is it actually expensive? Could you imagine life without it?
I don't think this kind of rhetoric helps in any way those who are in "fuel poverty" (which seems to be a UK specific term, as I've never heard that in any other context) and have to choose between food or heating.
Energy is not some magic supernatural thing we're running out of. Given the right equipment it can be created out of thin air (wind and/or solar). The reason UK's energy prices are so high is decades of corruption disguised as mismanagement/incompetence, not that the absolute price of electricity is somehow high.
It is also a fairly well working market in the current system context.
I witnessed this by working for an electricity related startup and by doing all the math involved it was really hard to make the math work out right. The possibility to optimize is there but the margins are really slim, even with the large price swings in the time of use markets in EU.
Can the infrastructure be better? Absolutely, it needs ton of work, but again margins are slim and incentives for large improvements are small.
Do we have a dire need for renewable and moreover dispatchable renewable energy? Absolutely. This means more clean generation and more storage (quite hard).
Does energy feel expensive for households? Yes.
Is it actually expensive?
Could you imagine life without it?
What would it be like?
If you were in this situation, how much would you be willing to pay then?