For years, energy experts warned us that regulations and policies that reduce the supply of affordable conventional energy would result in higher prices for American families.
Now it is clear the warnings were well-founded. The USA Today recently reported that electricity bills have skyrocketed.
The newspaper reports that American families paid, on average, a record $1,419 a year for electricity in 2010. Demand for electricity remains high even as energy supplies shrink. In addition, prices are rising due to the cost of meeting excessive EPA regulations that target conventional energy sources such as coal and oil.
The effect is being felt throughout the U.S.
In what’s labeled as an “environmental cost recovery,” Louisville Gas & Electric in Kentucky announced ratepayers will see their electric bills increase another 19.2 percent by 2016. In explaining the reason, LG&E spokesman Chip Keeling said, “The EPA is forcing utilities to do this. We don’t have a choice. It’s not a question of are we going to meet them. The question is when and how and how much money. “
Those electricity rates are expected to go much higher as companies pay billions to replace older power plants and shut down existing coal-fired power plants that are too costly to retrofit.