Comment by paganel
1 year ago
> Electric power is not a finite resource though
Electric power is most definitely a finite resource, otherwise we wouldn't have had this conversation and we would have all lived in a Startrek-like utopia.
> so they can benefit from economies of scale and they put their prices down.
That is the bs I was calling out against. I'm saying that because Meta needs more power then Meta will pay whatever will need in order to get access to that power, in effect out-competing those domestic users. Those power stations and the like would have already been built absent Meta's needs in order to server those domestic users and existing industrial users, you're saying that the incoming Meta new demand would be offset by the new offer (new power stations) generated by said new demand which is, again, the bs I was calling out against.
> Electric power is most definitely a finite resource, otherwise we wouldn't have had this conversation and we would have all lived in a Startrek-like utopia.
You're getting caught up on two things:
1. We can build new power stations! Power may be limited in the very short term, but generation capacity is increasing all the time.
2. Eventually we'll run out of nuclear fuel and space for solar farms and wind turbines, but we are so far away from that point that it has no effect on the market currently.
> the incoming Meta new demand would be offset by the new offer (new power stations) generated by said new demand
Uhm yeah that's exactly how it works. Why do you think this is bs?
> We can build new power stations
Those things cost money to build and to operate, that is until we get to their own externalities, which adds other (hidden) costs. Nothing is free, which is the whole point of the science of economics.
Yes they cost money to build and operate and they aren't free. I'm not sure what your point is. Electricity still gets cheaper the more power stations you build.