Solar geysers, LED lighting, photovoltaic panels are appearing everywhere. Now while this is being promoted by government as there is a huge need to alleviate the pressure on the main networks, it may in the end create another set of problems.
Here is where it becomes an issue. Municipalities such as Ekurhuleni need the revenue that they collect from services such as electricity in order to function.
Now as more people invest in alternative energy, the less they use council supplied electricity and as such the lower the income for the metro.
This means that unless the Metro finds an alternate source of funding, it will have no other choice than to push the price of electricity up to try and get more out of the few users that haven’t migrated to green technology.
Naturally if Government thinks a little further than their noses, they would realise that a larger scale roll out of alternative energy production plants instead of fossil fuels coal power stations would bring the cost of electricity down wholesale.
Meaning that the cost of all saleable goods would drop too because cost of production would drop. This means that cost of living will drop creating a larger disposable income, lower debt profiles and a stronger economy.
So while government is trying to employ green technology, they must be careful not to create their own downfall.
Individuals using their own solar and photovoltaic panels can become completely self-sufficient and that means no money coming into municipal coffers and that means higher cost of everything once again, however government funded and built alternative energy plants means that communities need not invest in green tech themselves to benefit from it and that means everyone wins.
