That result is a "domestic energy pricing crisis.” exports are “for the first time in history, binding American household energy bills to global calamities," Wolfe said in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer M. But Wolfe says don’t count on the calm to last with the continued war in Ukraine and China’s economic reopening that could make supplies scarce again. Winter there has been mild so far, which lowered and stabilized natural gas prices. Price surge: US natural gas prices surge to 14-year high. Starting from behind: An 'invisible' crisis: Already behind on utility bills, many Americans face a tough winter has been the world’s top liquified natural gas exporter, he said, and companies were happy to reap higher prices as Europeans eagerly bought up the fuel to prepare for winter. That situation is unlikely to change anytime soon, Wolfe said. is shipping record amounts to Europe to replace lost imports from Russia, which have dropped dramatically amid the war with Ukraine. Why won’t electricity prices fall?įirst, tighter supplies of liquified natural gas, which fuels more than one-third of Americans' electricity, have raised costs for consumers. Liquified natural gas is scarcer because the U.S. “It’s fair to say, in aggregate, we’ll see upward pressure for 2023 on the cost consumers pay for electricity,” said Dallas Federal Reserve economist Jesse Thompson. While Illinois saw the third-largest percentage increase (32%) last year, New Hampshire and Hawaii took the top two spots at 40% and 38%, according to a survey released earlier this month by Texas electric power company Payless Power. That means rates there will have more than doubled since 2012, according to the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit advocacy group.Įlectricity rates are also rising elsewhere. If that next round of hikes wins approval, household electric bills in Illinois would increase by an average of $4.25 a month each year, for a cumulative increase of $17 a month by 2027. Average U.S. electricity prices could rise at a 10% clip again this year and possibly next, predicts Mark Wolfe, director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, even though economists have forecast overall inflation to ease to between 3% and 4% by year-end.Įlectricity rates in Illinois, for example, could continue to surge following a rise last year. The utility ComEd has asked state regulators for a record $1.5 billion in price hikes over the next four years, starting in 2024. While price hikes for gas, furniture, electronics and clothes are slowing down after a long stretch of sharp gains, one costly item isn't expected to get cheaper anytime soon: electricity.Įconomists say consumers should expect their electric bills to continue rising at a fast pace as liquified natural gas, a key fuel for generating electricity, remains in short supply in the U.S. Already, 75% of Americans worry about their utility or electric bills.Companies' operational costs are rising and more natural gas is going overseas, boosting prices.Consumers should expect electric bills to keep climbing this year despite overall easing inflation.Energy requests from such industrial and commercial consumers now represent as much as half of Hydro-Quebec’s generating capacity, boosting tensions with residential users who are already being encouraged to conserve energy. Quebec also attracted large-scale power users including General Motors Co. “It doesn’t help companies to build business cases for projects.” The export deals were a “strategic mistake,” said Jocelyn Allard, head of a Quebec lobbying group that represents industrial electricity consumers including Glencore PLC and Rio Tinto PLC. Those contracts and a lack of added capacity could cause Hydro-Quebec to struggle to meet future demand, deterring new customers. northeast when the Champlain Hudson Power Express and another project, the New England Clean Energy Connect, get built. Hydro-Quebec’s future power commitments include long-term contracts to deliver an additional 20 terawatt-hours each year to the densely populated U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |