Cybercast News Service reported on Thursday that the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity hit a
March record of 13.5 cents. This number was released Wednesday by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and shows that average price went up about 5.5 percent from 12.8
cents per KWH in one year.
In fact, last year, after the
price of a KWH averaged 12.8 cents in March, it spiked to an all-time
record high of 13.7 cents in the months of June, July, August and September.
The rising costs of electricity during the spring and summer months is expected; however, President Barack Obama did warn in his 2008 campaign a few times that under his energy policy agendas electricity rates would go up. Although, a cap and trade bill never passed on Capitol Hill, the president’s EPA has continued forward with further regulations that did force energy companies to pass bill on to the consumer, just like the president said.
“The problem is can you get the American people to say this is really important and force their representatives to do the right thing. That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Climate change is a great example. When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would sky rocket, even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gas–whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was they’d have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money and they will pass that money on to consumers.”
“If we’re going to get serious and cap the emission of green house gasses that are causing global warming then we are going to be having power plants have to figure out how to reduce carbon, because they’ll have to pay penalties, if they exceed the cap–and that means they’re going to have to change how they operate. And that means in turn that they’ll have to make investments that they’ll try to pass on to consumers and could result in higher electricity prices.
Over the long term what happens is technology catches up and those electricity prices will come down. In the short term, though, people individually who can afford it, and the government will help, we’re all going to have to be more energy efficient. We’re all going to have to insulate our homes. Change our light bulbs…”
The Heritage Foundation points out the EPA regulations that have hurt both the coal industry and consumers since the Obama administration took office. These are:
- Cross-State Air Pollution Rule,
- Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (Utility MACT),
- Coal Combustion Residues (coal ash),
- Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards,
- Cooling Water Intake Structures,
- Greenhouse Gas New Source Performance Standard,
- New Source Review,
- Section 404 Clean Water Permits,
- Stream Buffer Zone Rule,
- Proximity Detection Systems,
- Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines for Violations of Mandatory Health or Safety Standards,
- Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, and
- Patterns of Violations.
According to Heritage, the costs of these new regulations “come with little added environmental benefit. The EPA is
ignoring the remarkable achievements in reducing nitrous oxide and
sulfur dioxide emissions over the past four decades.”