Re: Smoke 'em if you've got 'em.
"price-gouged"? Not really.
That's how capitalist funding for energy storage is supposed to work: when you really really need the energy they provide you pay a lot. When you don't need it, you pay less.
The alternative funding model is for the state (or other energy provider monopoly) to invest in the battery storage. They pay the capital costs upfront, pay the running and maintenance costs, and don't charge themselves for the energy at all.
Overall, the capitalist approach will be more expensive since you're paying for the cost of capital - the interest plus a premium ("profit") due to the risk the investors took. But it's not going to be 100x more expensive, despite charging over 100x more for electricity at the very rare times when demand is at the maximum.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
