Price Jolt: Electricity Bills Going Up, Up, Up!

Price Jolt: Electricity Bills Going Up, Up, Up!

www.usatoday.com

Here's a shocker: Electricity bills are heading up. Way up.
Utilities across the USA are raising power prices up to 29%, mostly to pay for soaring fuel costs, but also to build new plants and refurbish an aging power grid.

Even more dramatic rate increases are ahead. The mounting electric bills will further squeeze households struggling with spiraling gasoline prices.

"Consumers now face a tough reality on electricity," says Mark Cooper of Consumer Federation of America.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Is there ANY energy companies that are left that are not still endlessly greedy that they continue to rape the little people?

I think we know the answer already.

This has gotten so far beyond ridiculous anymore. We need FREE ENERGY in the worst way, and in a mode where the gov and corporations can't step in and regulate it and figure out a way to keep lining their pockets while everyone suffers.

I expect to see quite a huge increase in hospitalizations and deaths due to this, as people just have no more money to give to these ever-greedy energy companies...

Sigh

Some utilities are seeking several increases. In New York City, Con Edison, which raised rates 4.7% in April, seeks increases of 5% in each of the next three years to fund $5.5 billion in equipment after a 2006 Queens blackout. That's on top of an anticipated 13% rate increase this summer for higher fuel charges. "We must make sure that our system has the highest reliability," says Con Ed spokesman Michael Clendenin.

Queens Assemblyman Michael Gianaris says Con Ed wasted funds on new plants elsewhere and urges regulators to reject the proposal. "I say not one penny more until reforms are done," he says.

Expect bigger rate shocks if federal legislation, anticipated by 2010, passes and forces coal-fired generators to pay fees to emit global-warming gases. American Electric Power, the largest coal-fired generator, will have to raise rates 115% to pay higher fuel costs, build new plants and recover global-warming fees, says Hugh Wynne of Bernstein Research. But Wynne says regulators could temper increases by trimming profits.

www.usatoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Isnt it funny how it always seems to happen during peak season?


Oil and gas prices shoot through the roof right before summer vacation travel. Now the electric companies are seeing their opportunity to gouge people during the hottest months of the year when people need air conditioning. I am expecting heating oil and natural gas to be obscene by winters start. They know they have the consumer between a rock and a hard place, seeing as they have a monopoly on service. Its not like there are ten different electric companies to shop through when aquiring service.

Greed is king.



[edit on 6/16/08 by BlackOps719]

I am sooooo mad about this

I live in the DC metropolitan area and our energy company(BG&E) just finished raising our rates by 70% and our bills have doubled now.Now their are going to raise it another 29%!!!!!!! How can they justify this? What the hell is going on here!!!?That is over 100% increase.Oh man I can see a new revolution coming.This is about to get really ugly if something is not done and I mean done fast.

reply to post by CaptGizmo


There was recently a thread here about cold-fusion breakthrough that garnered a lot of interest. IMO, we, the PEOPLE need to start becoming pro-active with these types of scientists and universities, and start funding them OURSELVES, even in private endeavors, so that we take matters into our own hands, and out of all the giant corps and gov's who are holding us all hostage and SUPPRESSING this technology.

Something has to change. These people are making us all suffer with their greed.

Why they are getting away with what they do? even when most of our energy plants are run by foreigners?

Well that is because America is sleeping and allowing this corporate crocks get away with it.

The same way that nobody has marched in Washington to demand Government accountability for the Oil prices so everybody else that profits from the American citizens are cashing out on the ride of their life.

What does a nation citizens can do about it?

They need to mass protest.

A BTU costs the same, Oil, Natural Gas or Electricity. Any fuel source charges by the BTU. The different energy sources move in lockstep. A balance is maintained. There may be minor transient fluctuations, but the market keeps the balance.

When costs go up for one energy source, the demand for others increase and then they too go up with demand, as demand for the first begins to drop from the higher cost.

So you see it is not just gasoline, or oil it is the price of all energy which is now skyrocketing. A BTU costs what a BTU costs, supply and demand. Why would anyone sell a BTU of electricity for a fraction of the price someone is willing to pay for a BTU of oil? Of course the profits will be used to increase production and cut costs for the producer. There is money to be made big profits! This is called motivation. It is what makes the American market responsive to demand. Take that motivation away and we can all sit in the dark and dream of the good old days.

We've had price increases of around 25% a year for the past 3 years here in the UK, especially as our own Gas and Oil reserves dry up in the North Sea. There is a new pipeline coming online soon from Norway (may already be...), so hopefully we won't suffer to much more at the whim of the Russians and Saudis.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective

"Consumers now face a tough reality on electricity,"

I had to laugh...

"Consumers now face a tough reality on electricity,"
"Consumers now face a tough reality on gas prices,"
"Consumers now face a tough reality on food prices,"
"Consumers now face a tough reality on credit,"
"Consumers now face a tough reality on privacy,"
"Consumers now face a tough reality on civil rights,"


Times they are a changin....

Can we stand this?

Yes, they are crooks, Marg, every one of them.

At this rate we will be a full fledged third world nation very soon. Extended bellys, flies on our noses and ears and mush for dinner if we're lucky.
And you know i'm not being funny either.

This is sad, the depths we've sunk to.

Not to be offensive, but you Yanks are always complaining about the price of this and that; Petrol for example, yet you still get it MUCH cheaper than the rest of the world.

Exactly how much are you paying per KWh of electricity? And like wise for Gas?

reply to post by stumason


The reason that Americans are being so vocal is because of the % of change. Everyone builds their life around their daily expences. When gas, food and electricity have all remained fairly consistent and predictable for decades, people adapt their lifestyles to those prices.

To have all of your necessities increase in price dramatically, all at the same time, it tends to make people angry.

You said angry. You left out:
Hungry
Cold
Homeless
Sick
Ragged
Desperate
Humiliated
Isolated
Stranded
Unemployed
Depressed
Please forgive me if I missed anything, I am certain that I did.

But in the long run, you are right. Mad just about sums it up!

reply to post by stumason


A great deal of the reason we don't pay as much as Europeans for a gallon (or litre) of gasoline is because we make so much more of it than Europe. The US refinery capacity is tremendous compared to other countries. I'd have to check to be 100% sure, but I'm reasonably certain that America still has (by far) the largest national refinery capacity of any nation in the world.

It does stand to reason that a country will sell itself gasoline for less, right?

I'm interested in the flooding developing in the Midwest. Will this affect shipments of crude up from the Gulf of Mexico? I think it just might... Will this affect delivery of gasoline to the northern states? I think it just might...

reply to post by WyrdeOne


80% of what we pay in the UK is Tax, it's not a supply problem. Without the excessive Tax, a UK citizen would pay 55p (£0.55)/Litre, which would be £2.08/Gallon. Current prices are around the £1.30 a litre (some spiked to £1.99/litre at the weekend due to strikes by tanker drivers)

Our refining capacity is probably, per capita, on par with the US. Don't forget that the USA is a country of 300 Million people much more comparable to the entire EU population, rather than the UK's. We have many refineries in the UK alone.

Across Europe, I am pretty sure the refining capacity is the same as the US and our overall production is greater then the US, namely because Norway, a member of the EEA (not exactly EU but trades as if it were), is the 3rd largest oil; and gas producer in the world.

Anyhoo, national wang measuring aside, I am still interested in what you do pay so as to compare so as to get a better idea of what is happening globally with prices, not to get a one up on you. We probably pay more anyway as we get taxed on Electricity and Gas too...

Soon we'll probably have a birth tax, breathing tax, crapping tax and a being taxed tax....

EDIT: There are roughly 110 Oil refineries in the USA and 105 in the EU. Apparently, the EU accounts for 18% of total global refining capacity, so I'm pretty sure that's not the reason. As stated, it's mostly tax that bumps us up....


[edit on 17/6/08 by stumason]

reply to post by WyrdeOne


I used to work the Oil Tankers. One direction you carry crude Oil, the way back is Gas.
So transportation through flood areas is not a complete roadblock.

Here are some graphs showing price increase and decrease in value of the USDollar. The second image has a graph pertaining to the KWH subject, the
rest is just showing inflation. Sorry for the off-topic-ness but I figured this was as good of a place as any to show people.

[img][img=http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/3170/slide4cs4.th.png][/img]

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info retrieved from bls.gov and xe.com

reply to post by miltona1


Apparently I don't know how to link images, lol, hopefully this is right.






I don't know if I broke any rules here, sorry if I did. If the pictures show up as broken images you can click on them and view it externally.

[edit on 17-6-2008 by miltona1]

The last image here is the one that deals with KWH.

[edit on 17-6-2008 by miltona1]

Originally posted by marg6043
Why they are getting away with what they do?...
Well that is because America is sleeping and allowing this corporate crocks get away with it...The same way that nobody has marched in Washington...

It honestly astounds me how for the past ten months the news on ALL fronts has just been bad followed by worse and NO ONE is willing to stand up and say 'enough.'

Good Lord! How much is enough!? Evidently we can take even more or we would be squawking in the streets of Washington and in front of every greedy corporation.

But instead, they have us corralled in our designated free speech zone - the internet - where we can talk ourselves into a depressed and helpless funk but never affect any real change in our circumstances or hold any profiteers accountable.

I bet they just love the internet.

reply to post by miltona1


lol, I don't know which version is worse. I give you an E for effort though