On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 02:30:47 GMT, "Joel" wrote:

However, when you do turn on a switch you're providing a way for
_their_ electricity to get back to _them_ and stop beating it's head
against an open switch, so it seems to me that they should pay _you_
for doing them the courtesy of returning their electricity.


AH, BUT, how do _they_ know for sure _they_ are getting back the same
electrons _they_ sent out?

---
They read the meter, which only lets out (with one exception, see
below) the electrons they send it when you turn on a switch and turn
them loose.
---

Do the little suckers have tatoos?

---
"Tattoos". No, but they don't have to, since the power company knows
that since they were the only ones sending out the electrons, the ones
they get back must have been theirs in the first place. (Note the
exception below.)
---

Maybe I have a generator (such as my $500 combination treadmill/generator. I
run damn fast) that's feeding back MY OWN homemade electrons.
As soon as I think of a way to identify my personal electrons I'm going to
send them a bill. And since my electrons are of higher quality (not to
mention organic) I'll charge more for them.

---
That's already being done in lots of places, but the buying price for
imported electrons is fixed by law (usually) so you don't get to
arbitrarily determine how much you charge for your electrons if you
want to sell them to the electric company. What you do is to run your
electrons through the meter backwards, and then when the electric
company reads your meter they'll know where the surplus of electrons
(or fuel) at their facility came from and they'll pay you for them and
then sell them to someone else.

--
John Fields