> I don’t agree that we need any more crypto mining operations, but at what point and whose control does the availability of electricity to a person get determined ?
Assuming we want a society where as many people as possible get their basic need covered while electricity supply is restricted, fixed (high) price on electricity for everyone just means that the richest will buy most of the supply for superfluous use while the poorest won't be able to afford heating.
Directly forbidding superfluous use should help against that. Though politicians may not be good at deciding what is superfluous (I can see resistive heating being deemed needed while gaming wouldn't, which is true but the game machine would heat as well as resistive heating leading to little difference in winter). Exponential price as another comment mentioned sounds like a better idea.
Assuming we want a society where as many people as possible get their basic need covered while electricity supply is restricted, fixed (high) price on electricity for everyone just means that the richest will buy most of the supply for superfluous use while the poorest won't be able to afford heating.
Directly forbidding superfluous use should help against that. Though politicians may not be good at deciding what is superfluous (I can see resistive heating being deemed needed while gaming wouldn't, which is true but the game machine would heat as well as resistive heating leading to little difference in winter). Exponential price as another comment mentioned sounds like a better idea.