Electricity is a service; not a commodity.
I am an avid follower of Doomberg and Decouple. In today’s Doomberg article, Mark Nelson, a nuclear energy expert and advocate and frequent guest on Decouple, made the following statement and I quote:
“Electricity is not, and never was, a commodity. It is a service with strict and uncompromising location- and time-based constraints.”
I have never heard a better description of the electricity system we enjoy and demand. It should have been more obvious to me that we do not purchase electricity. We purchase the opportunity to have electricity delivered when and where we want it. We don’t need to store it or manage it. I don’t get box of electrons from Amazon and pour them into my cell phone. No, I flick the switch and like magic, the electricity I need, when I need it, where I need it, exactly as I need it is now at my finger tips. I bring this up as we discuss decarbonization and the energy transition. Pundits are always equating the electricity from solar and wind to be equivalent to that provided by natural gas or nuclear. This is not only an inaccurate equivalency but a dangerous one. Intermittent renewables cannot supply electricity, when you want it, where you want it, and exactly as you need it. To be called electricity (in the way I am defining it here), requires a complex support structure and system behind it to make it the service we demand. The costs of this behind the curtain support is never factored into the LCOE, which states that solar is the cheapest form of electricity.
As the energy transition proceeds and more intermittent renewables come on the grid, the “service” aspect of electricity is likely to suffer. This is why Exergy Energy, your concierge utility, exists. We make sure you get the electricity when, where and exactly as you need it. Exergy allows you to continue to enjoy the electricity service you rely on. To learn more about Exergy Energy and our concierge utility service, please visit us at https://exergyenergy.com