Slight correction: "If revenue is rising ..." Even at the same price per KWh, utilities are better off if their systems are loaded right up to 100% capacity, 7x24. Residential and most business customers don't do this. Industrial customers and data centers come closer.

What _WILL_ cause our prices to go through the roof is when all these AI services fold and close up shop. Then, all the grid investments will have to be paid for by somebody. And that somebody will be the last person to unplug their toaster. See Whoops.

"Hey Mr Businessman! I just bought this brand new PC/Tablet/Cell phone and I'd like to buy that really expensive product I saw on your web site. Of course you can't track me. Because I only just turned on this brand new machine this morning."

Do you really think they'll turn you down? Once the credit card has been approved and the transaction completed, I'll just spin up a clean copy of the VM running my browser. And then next week: "Hey Mr Businessman! I just bought this brand new PC/Tablet/Cell phone ..."

On the other hand, my bank does this. It's a good idea in that they can catch unrecognized machines trying to log on as me. And make me step through some additional authentication steps. It's a bad idea because they only recognize one machine per user account. Switch between my office (home) machine and the kitchen laptop and I get the whole third degree interrogation again.

What purchase? In a few cases, I can't even view informational web sites; being presented with the "Looks like you are using an ad blocker". From some outfit with the URL freestar.com. Including a link with instructions on how to disable it.

But I'm not actually blocking ads. I just have Enhanced Tracking Protection set to "Strict". I'll actually put up with your stupid ad banners and video clips*. I don't care. Because I don't buy stuff from people who repeatedly annoy me.

*Except where I get a popup telling me to enable DRM. Really? You're afraid that I'm going to steal your precious 15 second ad clip for some product to improve my bowel movements?

I think I have already left enough hints.

... combined with a large dose of IT illiteracy.

Where do people think data pasted into a web page form goes? Never mind the AI part, being able to read simple queries will give outsiders some intelligence about the kinds of projects and technologies your organization is working with. A foreign intelligence organization posing as an on-line seller can buy the right set of ad words and really go fishing for some interesting information.

They don't like the competition.

... all those investments in data centers.

Probably not in California. Investor owned companies pay taxes into the system to help keep public utilities cheap. In return, they get favorable regulations to keep revenue up, competition out and taxes rolling in. As long as they don't squeal too much under the thumb.

It's really a merger of state and corporate power.
"All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing agaisnt the state."

Isn't Reddit enough?

Yes. Welcome to public power. Move to an investor-owned service area and utilities political power is much less. Because capitalism and free markets. With publicly owned facilities, "We decided" to do X. So there's no backing out on an individual basis. Even if "We" is an elite group within the government.

... Sony's legal department.

This.

It works in Africa because there are no incumbent producers whose market is being threatened.

It could happen in the USA, but for the structure of the utilities' capital financing. You may _think_ you are paying so much for a kilowatt-hour. In reality, a good chunk of utilities costs are fixed. And the rate structures are designed to recapture those, concealed as energy rates. Now here come the micro solar and wind producers, expecting to use the grid as their marketplace. Buying and selling energy across it and hoping to break even or possibly squeeze out a profit. But that won't pay for the system, so the utilities will rewrite their rate schedules to get people to pay for the infrastructure they use. Which means that your solar buy/sell rates drop to near zero. And most of your bill becomes a fee to connect to the system, independent of which way the net power flows.

Now calculate your ROI on solar panels.

That's not the conspiracy that they've been hiding.

They missed a few important ones. Like the one about the aliens. Personally, that's the one I'm waiting for.

"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Walt Kelly