OK the Oaxaca cycling trip looks like a dreamy wonderland of a week! I'm seriously considering although the Oct 31 deadline and price sounds tough, the website and photos are so enticing. Question: how many miles do you think you'll cover in a single day?
Another area where dynamic pricing is spreading is in energy prices.
"Time of use" (TOU) pricing is where utilities divide up the day into periods, often called "on-peak" and "off-peak" or some variation, and charge different rates for energy consumed during different times. "On-peak" hours are often 6pm-9pm on weekdays, when wholesale energy prices, and the stress on the grid, is highest. Under TOU, consumers are properly incentivized to shift their consumption to off-peak hours. Rather than running my dryer at 7pm, I'll run it late at night or early in the morning to avoid paying higher energy prices. This benefits me as the consumer, but it also helps the grid.
TOU has climate & health benefits, too; some of the dirtiest (and most expensive) sources of energy are peaker plants, which are dispatched only in the most desperate times when load demand is spiking. If you can avoid turning these on by shifting demand to off-peak hours, you emit far less carbon and harmful air pollutants.
People tend to dislike TOU pricing and prefer flat rates. Flat rates distort the true cost of energy, though, and I think it's good for pricing to reflect true costs and provide more information to consumers.
Yes, that's a great example. It boggles my mind that people generally prefer flat rates. I like this quote: "Customers who use the same kWhs during off-peak times pay the same bill and are subsidizing the others. TOU rates can redress that inequity.”
But I guess it's like Uber removing surge pricing: people are willing to pay more for convenience ... they just don't want to know that they're paying more.
OK the Oaxaca cycling trip looks like a dreamy wonderland of a week! I'm seriously considering although the Oct 31 deadline and price sounds tough, the website and photos are so enticing. Question: how many miles do you think you'll cover in a single day?
Another area where dynamic pricing is spreading is in energy prices.
"Time of use" (TOU) pricing is where utilities divide up the day into periods, often called "on-peak" and "off-peak" or some variation, and charge different rates for energy consumed during different times. "On-peak" hours are often 6pm-9pm on weekdays, when wholesale energy prices, and the stress on the grid, is highest. Under TOU, consumers are properly incentivized to shift their consumption to off-peak hours. Rather than running my dryer at 7pm, I'll run it late at night or early in the morning to avoid paying higher energy prices. This benefits me as the consumer, but it also helps the grid.
TOU has climate & health benefits, too; some of the dirtiest (and most expensive) sources of energy are peaker plants, which are dispatched only in the most desperate times when load demand is spiking. If you can avoid turning these on by shifting demand to off-peak hours, you emit far less carbon and harmful air pollutants.
People tend to dislike TOU pricing and prefer flat rates. Flat rates distort the true cost of energy, though, and I think it's good for pricing to reflect true costs and provide more information to consumers.
Yes, that's a great example. It boggles my mind that people generally prefer flat rates. I like this quote: "Customers who use the same kWhs during off-peak times pay the same bill and are subsidizing the others. TOU rates can redress that inequity.”
But I guess it's like Uber removing surge pricing: people are willing to pay more for convenience ... they just don't want to know that they're paying more.