U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually – outpacing inflation
U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually – outpacing inflation
by ObtainSustainability
U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually – outpacing inflation
U.S. electricity rates rise about 5% annually – outpacing inflation
by ObtainSustainability
9 comments
Alternate headline: US Electrical utilities raise rates at higher levels than inflation for maximum profit.
Small sample size, but at our utility the weighted average of capital equipment costs went up roughly 300% during the same time. Transformers, cable, regulators, etc, all went up and while delivery times have improved, costs have not gone down.
Tariffs will make it worse at the end of this month
Same crowd will say “negative prices during the day mean solar will never work”
We’re transitioning the grid from a historically coal centric (rail and river dependent) to a renewable focused generation fleet.
At the same time we’re increasing load growth for the first time in a couple of decades.
Utility prices are going to go up for the next couple of decades, before they decline. When they do decline, they will drop significantly and quickly if state utility commissions do their jobs and make sure utilities keep their fixed returns.
Interesting article on how atleast $5 billion has gone towards uneconomical coal plants and keeping them open. (Also states that with expected electricity consumption doubling or trippling by 2028 because of data centers, we may have no option for now but to keep these power plants as our renewables build outs have been too slow.)
>In a 2024 report on “uneconomic dispatch” in the Midwest, Grid Strategies showed that 14% of 2023 coal plant starts by regulated utilities were unprofitable. Only 2% of coal starts from merchant plants, which earn fluctuating revenue based on the market, were unprofitable.
>Without so-called uneconomic dispatch, customers could have saved more than $3 billion in 2023, according to RMI. In Louisiana, for example, regulators determined that electric utilities Cleco and SWEPCO had overcharged customers by $125 million by continuing to run the now-shuttered Dolet Hills coal-fired plant.
https://floodlightnews.org/coal-was-on-its-way-out-but-surging-electricity-demand-is-keeping-it-alive/?ref=im-a-reader-newsletter
Trump will halve the electricity prices by end of January.
/s
Real inflation is higher than 5% in most things.
What a poor article. If transmission and distribution costs are behind the price increase then post a graph showing what is happening with the wholesale price of generation.
I swear the media is brain dead when it comes to anything electricity related.
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