• JackbyDev@programming.dev
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    10 hours ago

    Ughh, no, negative prices aren’t some weird “capitalism” thing. When the grid gets over loaded with too much power it can hurt it. So negative prices means that there is too much power in the system that needs to go somewhere.

    There are things you can do like batteries and pump water up a hill then let it be hydroelectric power at night.

    • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      But it doesn’t say “it can generate too much energy and damage infrastructure”, they said “it can drive the price down”. The words they chose aren’t, like, an accident waiting for someone to explain post-hoc. Like, absolutely we need storage for exactly the reason you say, but they are directly saying the issue is driving the price down, which is only an issue if your not able to imagine a way to create this infrastructure without profit motive.

      • loopedcandle@lemmynsfw.com
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        9 hours ago

        Yeah mate. The people writing here are economists not engineers, and that’s the professional language for what they’re talking about in their field. It’s like if a nuclear engineer said “oh yeah, the reactor is critical” which means stable.

        I hear the point your making and the point OP made, but this is how really well trained PhDs often communicate - using language in their field. It’s sort of considered rude to attempt to use language from another specialty.

        All of that context is lost in part b.c. this is a screenshot of a tweet in reply to another tweet, posted on Lemmy.

        The way it’s supposed to work is the economist should say “we don’t know what this does to infrastructure you should talk to my good buddy Mrs. Rosie Revere Engineer about what happens.”

        • Aeri@lemmy.world
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          7 hours ago

          All I know about nuclear reactors is that prompt critical is the “Get out of there stalker” one.

      • jsomae@lemmy.ml
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        9 hours ago

        Economists think in terms of supply and demand. Saying it drives prices down or negative is a perfectly good explanation of a flaw in the system, especially if you’re someone on the operating side.

      • lightsblinken@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        this feels like someone just looking for an argument… having negative pricing is a problem, and yes there are solutions like hydro and battery… hopefully this encourages that infrastructure to be created!

    • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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      10 hours ago

      Yep, and the cost difference between those times should make this very cost effective.