Electricity Rates Are Rising Because of Conservation

All across the country, electricity rates are rising. But, surprisingly, what's really driving prices up is conservation.

First of all, 5 years of bad economic times have forced Americans to cut back on expenses like energy consumption; but, not enough for the electric power companies to lay off workers or shut down all or part of their power plants or to even reduce their actual fuel usage.  Simply speaking, the power companies have lost billing revenues while their operating costs have remained the same or, only moved down slightly.  So to compensate, they need  rate increases.

Another way that conservation is raising costs is because, in many states, power companies have been forced by their state utility commissions to implement energy savings programs.   Programs that give consumers a price break on buying energy-efficient light bulbs, air conditioners, refrigerators, and other appliances.  Literally, these programs are costing power companies millions of dollars per year. That cost has to be offset through rate increases. As noted above, these conservation programs only result in the consumer paying more.

Lastly, the environmental push for power companies to go green is costing them millions more because they are being forced to invest in costly forms of electricity production like wind and solar.  Again, they aren't able to reduce the people or traditional power production costs because those traditional forms of power production have to remain operational in the event that the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow quite enough.