Privatization supporters seem to always use waste as a boogeyman, but never the inevitable profitmaxxing for management and shareholders.

Utilities have made $200B+ in profit since 2021, new report says - https://www.utilitydive.com/news/utilities-have-made-200b-in... - March 17th, 2026

That's $200B that could've, in some parts, gone into grid investment and lower electrical costs. Instead, it's the rake for financially engineering being a middleman.

I'm confident this is solved for in the long term with more coop and muni ownership of grids, alongside rapid deployment of solar and batteries so folks can go off grid if they want, as is happening across Pakistan [1] [2]; in the interim, it's annoying though, and for those who cannot afford to be squeezed for these profits, painful.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46070915

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50145248

(non profit, coop, and muni grids can go to the bond market just like an investor owned utility to borrow for grid investment capital, so this is not an excuse for investor owned utilities to exist)

https://www.electric.coop/electric-cooperative-fact-sheet | https://www.electric.coop/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026_NC... [pdf version]

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testing22321 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> Privatization supporters seem to always use waste as a boogeyman, but never the inevitable profitmaxxing for management and shareholders

That’s because under capitalism, waste and inefficiency are touted as the ultimate evil. Making profit is the entire purpose of the whole system, so it’s inherently good, and “the right thing”.

Especially in the US, even talking about a reduction in profit is akin to blasphemy, and quickly gets one labeled a quack.

	▲	toomuchtodo 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's unfortunate, for sure. Luckily, clean tech manufacturing and deployment will eventually outpace the ability to capture energy for returns [1] [2]. China currently has enough solar PV manufacturing capacity for double current global demand, and battery manufacturing capacity is catching up. Prices will keep coming down, and eventually everyone who wants to go off the grid and has space for batteries and solar should be able to. Just like China is cramming down legacy auto export TAM through their EV exports (BYD has surpassed Ford in international sales as of this year, as is constrained by not having enough marine vessels to export more), solar and batteries will come for investor owned utilities as well. [1] https://ember-energy.org/data/china-cleantech-exports-data-e... [2] https://www.iea.org/reports/solar-pv-global-supply-chains/ex...