Are electric utilities days numbered?

Todd Woody, reporting for Quartz:

On Oct. 3, for instance, nearly 60% of the electricity generated in Germany came from wind farms and rooftop solar panels. That’s pushing fossil fuels off the grid and utility profits off a cliff. Utility EON’s profit is expected to fall 40% this year, according to Bloomberg, and it and other traditional power producers are moving to shut down coal and natural gas-fired power plants.

“Solar is most productive in middle of the day when coal is usually fired up,” Chris Nelder, an energy consultant, said yesterday at the Verge green business conference in San Francisco. “Now in Germany, at certain times of day power prices go negative and utilities have to pay to put electricity on the grid.”

Thanks to the support of readers like you, Per Square Mile remains independent and ad-free.

If you enjoy what you read, please consider supporting the site with a donation.


opening times