The Political Page, T+195 -- August 3, 2017

Updates

August 17, 2017: source -- http://joannenova.com.au/2017/08/australia-denmark-germany-vie-to-win-highest-global-electricity-cost-its-the-nobel-price-prize/.

Later, 3:44 p.m. Central Time: see comments. For Australian pricing, see http://aemo.com.au/. I just looked -- yes, the pricing is insane. Check the spot price in about 45 minutes -- about 4:30 p.m. Central Time to get an idea. Right now, South Australia spot price is about $AUS 130/MWh, compared to the outrageous price of $60/MWh right now in New England. $1AUS = 0.8 USD. So, I assume AUSD $130/MWh works out to about 83 USD.

Later, 3:41 p.m. Central Time: see comments. Connecticut proposing "conservation fee" (aka, a new tax) on heating oil for those who use heating oil to heat their homes.

Original Post

If I did not blog, I would not have known this: the highest electric rates in the world are in Denmark.

For new plants/farms:

• coal/natural gas: $1 million/MW or less
• wind, on-shore: $3 million/MW
• wind, off-shore: $5 million/MW
• solar: $6 million/MW

Who has a lot of off-shore wind? Denmark.

Which country has the highest electric rates? Oh, I already noted that.

Now this: South Australia now has the highest electric rates in the world. Absolutely crazy; Australia is energy-rich; why in the world did it get sucked into this fad? Musk Melon said he could solve Australia's problem in less than 100 days. From the linked source:

As of July 1, 2017, electricity prices in the state of South Australia are the highest in the world, exceeding Denmark’s due to price increases of between 15.3 and 19.9 percent by its three major electric utilities.

In nearby New South Wales the problem is not much better, with more than 60,000 households at risk of having their power cut off because they cannot afford the bills.

Further, South Australia is faced with the possibility of brownouts and blackouts due to the intermittency of wind power. During a power outage last September, electricity prices rose to 200 cents per kilowatt-hour—about 20 times higher than the average U.S. electricity price. The blackout, which impacted 1.7 million people, started when a wind farm suddenly stopped providing 200 megawatts of power and destabilized the grid. Despite the blackout and high prices, South Australia plans to invest another $100 million in renewable energy.

South Australia’s reliance on wind power makes large blackouts more likely because the electricity generated is intermittent and does not coincide with the times of day when power is needed most. Intermittent renewable energy, wind and solar power, represent 53 percent of South Australia’s electricity mix. What’s more, the state closed its last coal-fired power station, thereby providing less back-up power during peak demand.

The shut down of the coal-fired generator at Port Augusta last year destroyed a supply of affordable energy for the state’s households and businesses.

Major businesses in South Australia have threatened to suspend operations entirely until the electricity price is lowered and some smaller operations have already closed.

There is so much more at the link, but this is a good start.

EDI.

************************************

Aetna Reports Great Earnings -- Pulling Out Of ObamaCare

Huge interview with the Aetna CEO on CNBC. Something tells me the mainstream media is starting to see the failure of ObamaCare.

Aetna will pull out of ObamaCare in all states by 2018.