EPA regs to increase Vermonters’ gas and
electric bills by $880, Posted on November 21, 2014
Written by http://watchdog.org
By 2020, the average
annual household gas and electric bill in Vermont will increase by more than
$880, thanks to the Obama administration’s proposal to regulate carbon dioxide
emissions from U.S. power plants. COST
OF GOING GREEN:
New carbon regulations from the EPA will cause Vermonters’
residential gas and electric bills to rise 36 percent over the next
five years.
A study released
Thursday by Energy Ventures Analysis, a Virginia-based consulting firm,
finds that EPA regulations will spike power and gas costs for residential,
commercial and industrial customers by an estimated $284 billion over the
next five years. The increase represents a 60 percent rise as Americans
can expect to watch coal-based electricity decline and natural gas prices
rise. View the entire
report
online at the Energy Ventures Analysis website.
While the report
shows that American households overall will see electricity and natural
gas bills rise about $680 annually compared to 2012, Vermonters will experience
an even higher increase. Vermonters paid an average of $2,466 for gas and
electric bills in 2012; they will pay $3,348 in 2020. The cost of electricity
will increase the most in states that have implemented deregulation of
wholesale electric power markets, the report claims.
Moreover, the power
rate increase for industrial use is projected to rise from 10 cents per kilowatt
hour to 12.3 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the report.
The total annual cost
of power and gas in Vermont will top $1 billion in 2020, a $300 million cost
increase over 2012. Electricity costs make up $200 million of that total
increase.
“EVA’s analysis is the
first to fully examine the combined economic impacts of the EPA’s
long list of proposed and finalized regulations on the electric power
industry, including the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, regional haze regulations
and the Clean Power Plan, whose four building blocks are based on flawed
assumptions,” said Seth Schwartz, president of Energy Ventures Analysis.
“For example, existing
coal-fueled generating facilities are already operating at very efficient
levels and, collectively, will not be able to achieve an additional 6 percent
heat rate improvement.”
In recent years, the
Environmental Protection Agency has issued a slew of regulations on the
electric power sector, the majority of which target power plant emissions
under the authority of the Clean Air Act. The new rules claim to address CO2
emissions, ozone and particulate matter, interstate transport of air pollution,
mercury and air toxics, haze and more. Each of the new regulations imposes
new costs on electric power companies and, by extension, their customers.
The report claims the
industrial sector will be hurt the most, especially aluminum, steel and
chemical manufacturers, as these industries need reliable low-cost electricity
to compete globally.
High-cost renewables
generation is expected to double in Vermont at the same time wholesale
natural gas prices will more than double.
Related Posts
-
CommentsThis is totally unnecessary. Global warming is a hoax created by the UN to crash the economy so their Puppet Masters can take over global governance.More than 70% of our power plants are coal fired. The cost of production for each kilowatt hour of electricity is 2 cents. It’s the same for Nuclear. Wind and Solar cost 14 cents/kwh.It’s time to quit the UN and keep our coal plants.Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment