Recent comments in /f/newhampshire

SkiingAway t1_ja518wm wrote

Reply to comment by 2_dam_hi in New England grid operator says small-scale solar is driving down electricity demand on some days by TurretLauncher

You have days, or even weeks where solar in the northeast is basically producing no power, so you still have to maintain a similar amount of non-solar generation as you have now. Batteries are a good bridge for the time-shift problem (peak demand, is often well before/after solar's peak output for the day), but it's unlikely we're going to build absurd quantities of batteries to handle a week of low output when a major storm moves through.

So your traditional generation will not run anywhere near as much in the past, but still has to be maintained and ready to operate. While some portion of maintenance costs are related to how often it runs ("this thing needs replacement every XXX hours of operation"), some portion are just for keeping the thing ready to run even if it's only used once a year.

The same also applies to the grid itself - when that solar isn't outputting for days, your house will draw the same power as if you didn't have solar, so the grid has to remain built out and ready to provide the same capacity to everyone as before.

How you allocate these costs fairly gets thorny.

For fairness, you'll probably see a somewhat higher share of your bills priced at a flat rate in the long run rather than per kWH/by usage.

Total bills paid by the population should be lower, but bills for a current solar owner might be somewhat higher.

I don't think this will kill the value proposition of home solar (especially with further cost declines/tech improvements), but it'll be a little less favorable in that sense.

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Nowhere_X_Anywhere t1_ja50enj wrote

Reply to comment by surmisez in the cannon mountain tram needs repairs and Sununu proposes replacing the tram with a gondola to cut costs by comefromawayfan2022

Wow you just don't seem to understand the concept of investments and returns do you.

It is a NH investment that has been paying out profits to the NH general fund for years. If you and other taxpayers are upset that Cannon generates profits that go to covering the state's annual budget than let NH resident pass holders get the profits in the form of a dividend, or discount on their passes.

It is an intentionally sarcastic suggestion, but I see you got lost way back at how general business entities operate so I'm sorry for you there.

Educate yourself then post comments online. All will be better for it.

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SkiingAway t1_ja4ye6j wrote

Reply to comment by cwalton505 in New England grid operator says small-scale solar is driving down electricity demand on some days by TurretLauncher

(Not the previous poster.)

When we are short on Natural Gas we switch over to oil-fired generation. New England does not have the pipeline capacity to meet demand in major cold snaps.

Traditionally, this has been partially met with LNG imports into Boston (and to a lesser extent, New Brunswick). These are less available and while never cheap, are drastically more expensive now.

Last winter and this winter we have had brief periods where the grid is running on 25-40% oil.

This is not the same as saying that total yearly generation is that much oil, we're talking hours or days, so it's a small % of overall generation....although a slightly larger share of costs, since it's a very expensive power source.

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ANewMachine615 t1_ja4x6sk wrote

Reply to comment by 2_dam_hi in New England grid operator says small-scale solar is driving down electricity demand on some days by TurretLauncher

There is a possible free rider problem. Grid maintenance costs don't change much with lower use, and in some ways, more distributed generation offsets lower use of centrally generated power. Grid maintenance is billed on a per KwH, to my understanding. So folks with solar don't pay as much towards grid maintenance as other users. This is one of the ways solar pays for itself, but so long as you're still connected to the grid, it is a problem. Solvable by changing the funding model, of course. Same as the gas tax for highway maintenance will need to change as EVs become a larger share of the market to remain a viable funding model.

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Jetpilotboiii1989 t1_ja4x26r wrote

Reply to comment by Nowhere_X_Anywhere in the cannon mountain tram needs repairs and Sununu proposes replacing the tram with a gondola to cut costs by comefromawayfan2022

Oh I hear ya. I used to work with a lady back in my restaurant days that would emphasize often that she was from Lynn. Which, was enough to get a bead on her personality. All to say, some people take pride in being from an environment where everyone treats each other like garbage because no one learned how to respect one another. I hate it and I always have. That said, I do think in some established contexts playful ribbing among friends and family is the normal way of interacting (which I hope you see my initial comment as just that)

I will say, I worked in NYC at one point and my first few experiences on my own needing help didn’t go too smoothly; seemed like there was a rule book somewhere that I was supposed to know about and should have glanced before coming. Even a simple question like “am I in the right place to…?” Gets an eye roll. Sink or swim. Which I don’t think would happen in Boston but I’m probably biased.

Reminds me of back when I went to Minnesota for a job interview, and later to work. The first night I’m at a bar getting a meal, I see several people shooting glances my way and experience tells me I’m in for it. Turns out they just wanted to talk to a new person. They said I didn’t have much of an accent. I probably do, but not like the movies. Any way, I later found out that the midwestern bubbly kindness was often a means of masking passive aggression and you learn what signs to look for. All to say I’ve met jerks all over, just different modes of expression.

I honestly haven’t been to Cannon, I looked at it more than a few times. I don’t have a lot of criteria for a hill, but to me it seemed a little more oriented towards skis than a board. Perhaps I’m wrong and I should give it a shot. Even if it were I always have a good time regardless. I wouldn’t say I’m new; actually just returning after a few years off, but I try pretty hard to not be Jerry.

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