Our little corner of the world, energy, ain't so little when it comes to a lot of bad people's plans. The part on Kara Swisher may be enlightening for those who don't know her.
Barron's: Electricity Bills Are Going Up—and Show No Sign of Slowing
In addition, about half of the average consumer bill has nothing to do with what fuel is used to generate electricity. It reflects the cost of transmission and distribution. And those costs are rising fast, according to consumer advocates.
Utilities are spending heavily to ramp up their transmission infrastructure as electricity demand grows because of the advent of electric vehicles and data centers for artificial intelligence applications.
Increasingly, those costs will be passed along to consumers.
“I expect it to accelerate,” wrote David Springe, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, in an email to Barron’s. “A lot of spending has yet to hit the consumer bill.”
In Indiana, for instance, two utilities are attempting to raise rates to pay for a variety of priorities, including the cost of transitioning away from coal-power generation to cleaner options.
Duke Energy is asking regulators for permission to raise residential rates by about 19%, or $27.63, a month for an average customer. CenterPoint Energy Indiana South is asking for a 16% overall increase.
In testimony to Indiana’s Utility Regulatory Commission, Duke Energy cited “dramatic inflation,” the increasing cost of capital, and a growing rate base for why it is seeking higher rates. CenterPoint cited the energy transition and reliability investments, among other things.
Ben Inskeep, the program director for Indiana’s Citizens Action Coalition, said the utilities are also seeking considerably higher returns on equity for their investments. Duke Energy is asking for a 10.5% return, while CenterPoint is looking for 10.4%.
In response to Inskeep, Duke Energy spokeswoman Angeline Protogere said its request is in line with other major utilities, which have lately been asking for rate increases of between 10% and 10.8%. The commission has mostly approved returns on equity for investor-owned utilities of between 9.5% and 10%.
CenterPoint also said its request is consistent with competitors, and that its witness in its rate case recommended the company ask for an even higher return of 10.6%.
Similar rate hikes could spread throughout the country in the years ahead, some electricity experts predicted.
“It’s going to get a lot worse,” Springe wrote. “I don’t see anything in the future that indicates price increases will slow down, really quite the opposite.”
Steve Bannon: Gutting The American Economy (A particularly good episode IMO)
by Thinklike A. Mountain
Apr 16
Our little corner of the world, energy, ain't so little when it comes to a lot of bad people's plans. The part on Kara Swisher may be enlightening for those who don't know her.
Weblink to video:
https://rumble.com/v4ppmji-warroom-battleground-ep-513-gutting-the-american-economy.html
Barron's: Electricity Bills Are Going Up—and Show No Sign of Slowing
In addition, about half of the average consumer bill has nothing to do with what fuel is used to generate electricity. It reflects the cost of transmission and distribution. And those costs are rising fast, according to consumer advocates.
Utilities are spending heavily to ramp up their transmission infrastructure as electricity demand grows because of the advent of electric vehicles and data centers for artificial intelligence applications.
Increasingly, those costs will be passed along to consumers.
“I expect it to accelerate,” wrote David Springe, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, in an email to Barron’s. “A lot of spending has yet to hit the consumer bill.”
In Indiana, for instance, two utilities are attempting to raise rates to pay for a variety of priorities, including the cost of transitioning away from coal-power generation to cleaner options.
Duke Energy is asking regulators for permission to raise residential rates by about 19%, or $27.63, a month for an average customer. CenterPoint Energy Indiana South is asking for a 16% overall increase.
In testimony to Indiana’s Utility Regulatory Commission, Duke Energy cited “dramatic inflation,” the increasing cost of capital, and a growing rate base for why it is seeking higher rates. CenterPoint cited the energy transition and reliability investments, among other things.
Ben Inskeep, the program director for Indiana’s Citizens Action Coalition, said the utilities are also seeking considerably higher returns on equity for their investments. Duke Energy is asking for a 10.5% return, while CenterPoint is looking for 10.4%.
In response to Inskeep, Duke Energy spokeswoman Angeline Protogere said its request is in line with other major utilities, which have lately been asking for rate increases of between 10% and 10.8%. The commission has mostly approved returns on equity for investor-owned utilities of between 9.5% and 10%.
CenterPoint also said its request is consistent with competitors, and that its witness in its rate case recommended the company ask for an even higher return of 10.6%.
Similar rate hikes could spread throughout the country in the years ahead, some electricity experts predicted.
“It’s going to get a lot worse,” Springe wrote. “I don’t see anything in the future that indicates price increases will slow down, really quite the opposite.”
Weblink to full article:
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/electricity-bill-costs-utilities-natural-gas-inflation-f86915c8?mod=watchlist_latest_news