Dynamic electricity pricing gets teeth; and why lobsters love offshore wind platforms

Plus, the rise of coffee brew balls

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The American lobster, also known as the Maine lobster. Photo: Wally Gobetz/flickr.

In a conservative state, a radical move

My first journalism job in the U.S. was in Salem, Mo., a small lumber town in the Ozark Mountains. I was a reporter in the sleepy metropolis of about 4,000 people and the county beyond, which had 10,000 more. Which meant I wasn’t very busy unless a tornado came through (which it did) or someone shot someone else dead for pilfering from his marijuana patch (yup). My typical stories were about such subjects as the price of gas rising above a dollar a gallon, churches welcoming new clergy (and there were a lot of churches) and puffy interviews — insisted upon by a publisher eager for ads — with local retailers and businesspeople.

Dent County, of which Salem is the county seat and biggest town, is just about as conservative as it gets in what has become a rock-ribbed Republican state. At the last general election, those voting Republican in the county outvoted Democrats by about 85% to 15% while statewide the numbers were about 60-40.

Overall, not a place where you would expect somewhat radical electricity policies. But that’s what has happened — the Show-Me State has decided to introduce an electricity rate structure that encourages users to consume less power at peak times, one of only three states in the nation.