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Real-time electricity pricing is a terrible idea for retail consumers

Apoorv Bhargava · AI in the real world: Solar forecasting, EVs, and virtual power plants · Nov 16, 2023 · at 56:07

Apoorv Bhargava (CEO of WeaveGrid) pushes back against exposing everyday utility customers to volatile real-time electricity rates.

0:00 / 0:21exact quote · 21.2s
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“I also hear a lot of things about, we're magically gonna give everyone real-time rates. I think that's a terrible idea. I think that is a terrible idea. I think real-time rates are a, are an approach to trying to personalize, but actually passing the entirety of the hedge of the energy markets on to customers and saying, you become an Enron trader.”

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