Gas prices aren’t the only thing going up. U.S. utilities are raising electricity rates by up to 29% according to a USA Today report.
The increases are due to skyrocketing fuel prices (the cost of coal has doubled over the last year), new power plant construction (the cost of building new plants has doubled since 2000) and initiatives to update aging power grids (new transmission lines are needed to reduce waste and accommodate renewable power sources).
Potomac Edison of Virginia plans to raise rates 29% on July 1. AmerenUE of Missouri wants an increase of 12.1% for the price of its power. Public Service Co. of Oklahoma raised rates 25% on June 1. New York’s Con Edison has asked regulators for permission to increase rates 5% in each of the next three years.
Rates changes like these are bound to continue b as prices for natural gas, coal and oil continue to climb. And if Congress is able to pass climate change legislation, it is likely to have a short-term effect on power prices as well.
The upside is that these changes in the rate structures for electricity greatly benefit renewable energy technologies like solar, wind and wave power–all of which become more competitive as the costs of electricity from dirty (and limited) fossil fuels go up.
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