• Zink@programming.dev
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    6 days ago

    Given the up-front cost of any kind of reactor, I don’t think the concept of a usage-based electric bill goes away as long as it’s corporations competing for customers. Maybe eventually it would be like ISPs where it’s a flat fee depending on the size of your connection. I guess it could be totally unmetered then.

    Like so many things, it gets a lot simpler if it’s the government supplying the service.

    • psud@aussie.zone
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      18 hours ago

      It’s not too cheap to meter even when provided as a public service. Nuclear is more expensive than battery + solar, more expensive than wind, more expensive than coal

      “Too cheap to meter” was a lie that ignored costs of safety and decommissioning.

      • Zink@programming.dev
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        10 hours ago

        Yeah I agree, and you still hear that BS about fusion power, that it will be an unlimited source of cheap/free clean energy.

        I guess I could imagine scenarios where power is not metered and is supported via taxes, maybe in a scenario where citizens have a right to energy just like a right to healthcare. It’s not free by any means, but the people who make the most money and thus benefit the most from the infrastructure end up paying into it the most. And the truly poor would get free (to them) electricity.