Welcome to the Mclowd Community Newsletter.
The rising number of solar rooftop installations is creating concerns that too much energy is flooding into the electricity grid, and could cause blackouts as the system struggles to control the excess power.
Solar power surge is flooding the grid, SMH 6 June 2018
Introduction
Energy policy in Australia has been challenged in recent years – to say the least.
Our National Electricity Market is starting to show cracks for the simple reason that it is a market, and markets by definition only function well in the context of (relative) scarcity.
(There is no market for the air we breath because it is in such abundance that there is no price signal on which a market could operate).
But in the years to come – as we are already seeing – that ‘market’ is going to be flooded with unlimited, virtually free solar energy. Remove scarcity and by definition you remove the price signal.
Take away the price signal and you remove the market in which incumbents expect to operate.
This is precisely what we have already seen in the market for SMSF accounting software.
Since inception the Mclowd Community has had access to an abundance of highly-skilled labour (via the Crowd) and unlimited computing power (in the Cloud), such that the price signal in relation to the core software has disappeared.
It is free and will now always be free (while being supported by a commercial model where per-unit prices have fallen on average by 70-90%).
Accounting Software Update
1 July 2018 will see the largest single upgrade to functionality in the history of the Mclowd Community, including:
- End of day unit pricing for Australian managed funds
- The ability to search and display price and income details (dividends & distributions) of ASX listed securities and Australian managed funds
- Australian managed fund asset allocation for reporting purposes
Along with the reversion to ASX for end-of-day pricing for listed securities, the Community will have in place the data layer to power ongoing automation across various asset classes, and all at the same low $33 per annum price point.
In addition we will be deploying Robotic Process Automation to drive switching costs towards zero.
As it comes onstream, all of this automation will be like a flood of renewable energy, eventually – and inevitably – displacing the existing coal-fired power stations.
Introductory Webinar
Existing and prospective users looking for more information on the above are welcome to join our next Introductory Webinar on Thursday July 5th at 12:30pm AEST.
Conclusion
The problems we are now seeing in terms of governance of the National Electricity Market are due to the fact that policymakers are trying to manage a journey without having the slightest understanding of what the Zero Marginal Cost destination looks like.
The governance structure of that market (capital intensity in particular) will simply not survive the deflationary forces that are now at work. Users large and small can expect continued dislocation – up to and including disruption to supply – until such time as governance has been mapped to the new ZMC reality.
Postscript
Strip away price signals and the governance structure of a traditional joint-stock company quickly breaks down.
What you are left with is the Collaborative Commons, which is a landscape that would be unrecognisable to most incumbents.
In contrast it is very familiar territory for the stakeholders of the Mclowd Community.
Because that Community was built from the ground up in anticipation of the the future.
And that future has now arrived.
Regards
Ashley Porter
Managing Director
Mclowd Pty Ltd