>>>>>>>>>http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Interesting (and a bit scary).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The 'Energy' section reminded me of an interesting fact I heard yesterday:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The amount of energy delivered to the Earth in one hour by the sun would, if captured, more than meet the entire current energy needs of the world for one year.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Solar insolation is roughly 1 kW / m^2 .
>>>>>>
>>>>>>My sister has just installed solar panels. Electricity companies in the UK have, by law, to buy any electricity which you produce by 'green' means at a premium price. That rate for photo-voltaic production is currently 41p per KwH and that is quaranteed for 25 years. This compares with an average purchase price of around 10-14p per KwH. The system she installed cost about £17K and should pay for itself in about 10 years. Of course the normal buying price for energy will probably increase over that period so the differential will be reduced.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I think the guaranteed price is also set to drop a little in the near future. But that will only apply to new installations and the cost of the panels, etc is steadily reducing anyway.
>>>>>
>>>>>There is a lot of concern over here about so-called "feed-in tariffs" for "sustainable" energy. The province of Ontario's power generation system is fiscally a mess, and there is some thought these tariffs will triple or quadruple electric power prices in the not-too-distant future.
>>>>>
>>>>>http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/microFIT-Rules/microFIT-Program-pricing/index.php
>>>>>
>>>>>Relatedly, the province struck a large deal with Samsung:
>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-samsung-in-7-billion-deal-for-green-energy/article1439002/
>>>>
>>>>Interesting. The rates quoted in the first link seem broadly the same as here. However, towards the end of the second link it says that the market price for electricity is 3.31 cents which, if true, means that it is about one fifth of the rate in this country.
>>>>
>>>>Something confusing in the second link as well: Snip:
>>>>"Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said the deal contains no job guarantees, so all Ontarians have to go on is Mr. McGuinty's word."
>>>>but, just above:
>>>>"Samsung will receive $437-million in incentive payments over the 25-year life of the deal if it fulfills its obligation to create 16,000 jobs."
>>>>
>>>>P.S I wonder what's available in the U.S. in this respect.....
>>>
>>>Looking at my most recent (residential) electricity bill:
>>>
>>>- there is a "daily usage charge" of $0.13410 (whether any juice is used or not)
>>>- up to 22.2 kWh/day the rate is $0.0627 / kWh
>>>- above that, the rate is $0.0878 / kWh
>>>- there is a 4% "Rate Rider"
>>>- and a 6.24 cents/day "Regional Transit Levy" - regional government tax junkies getting creative in ways to get their fix
>>>
>>>I suspect the 3.31 cents figure is a high-volume rate for large industrial customers. The Samsung deal is large, so the comparison is probably made to the rate that large industrial customers pay - whether that's a valid comparison is another question.
>>
>>I'm paying 11.5p per day plus 12p per unit - without getting a calculator out that looks to be about 3 times what you are paying.
>>OTOH I think I'm paying top whack and could shop around and maybe reduce that by ~20%. Do you have that option (i.e. choice of suppliers?)
>
>We have a lot of cheap hydro power in Canada.
>
>Here in BC we don't have a choice of electricity suppliers, but natural gas was opened for competition a few years ago. Here you basically have a choice of staying with the former BC Gas (now Terasen) and paying market prices, or signing on for a fixed-price contract with a third party. Gas prices have been in steady decline over all that time, and are projected to go even lower with major shale gas plays coming on line in North America, so anyone who has signed a fixed-price contract at any time since they first became available is kicking themselves.

I've got a choice of about 6 different electricity suppliers. Most of them can also supply gas as a combined deal -but no chance of that for me since the nearest gas pipeline is about 4 miles away. I think most people in the UK who have gone for a fixed price deal in the last few years probably made the right choice.

Elecricity for me is mainly just for lighting (and driving computers :-} ) , oil for background heating in the winter, bottled gas for cooking and wood for the real warmth.....