Some innovative competition?!

jkforde

Is there any chance of real innovation \ competition in our electricity market?🤣

I have to laugh when I read about cases (ok, rare!) in the UK when Octopus customers were paid to consume energy when wind was swamping the grid. I mean, the smart tarrifs on offer currently here are plain insulting, reckon the competition 'regulator' is asleep at the wheel (surely not! 😱)

Perchance, could we, as a group, individually get on to CRU and demand that they up their game in encouraging innovation (I'm thinking of Shawshank Redemption levels of persistence!!).. or is 'innovation' even in CRU's scope? I've given up emailing the Dept ECC as all I get is some EA's reply.

unkel

The regulators in Ireland are a joke. I wish we got some of the utility companies like the way Octopus / Tesla are operating. Charge all your big batteries (house powerwall, EV) up during the night for very cheap, even for free indeed get paid to consume (!) and then sell it back to them for a big profit the next day during peak hours.

Win win situation for everyone. Consumer saves an enormous amount off their bill, government has to install / maintain far fewer peak generation gas plants, the grid is stabilised (for free) and we can connect a load more renewables to the grid as more of their overproduction can be stored locally rather than not used at all or send for peanuts over an interconnector abroad

jkforde

sadly the blinkered culture in the former state bodies, civil service, regulators etc is handed down to the next generation .. innovative thinking?! == troublemaker! down with that sort of thing! unless we collectively get sick of it and stop moaning on online forums! 🤣😂🤔

slave1

As unkel says, how the ESB have not copped on they could have a web of batteries across a million households to take the strain off the system is beyond me.

We need sweeping changes at the top and bring in International experience, in a new role the last month or so and if someone says "that's the way we've always done it" one more time....

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117789756#Comment_117789756

Advice my Grandfather got from an agri advisor 'back in the day', was

"If your doing something a certain way, You need to have a reason for it, Can be anything except "its the way we/father/grandfather always done it""

With a bit of thought you can either come up with a reason to do it or maybe think of a better/different way to do it.