US News has a piece by Laura Colarusso in which it reports that American electric utilities are raising their rates in order to pay for billions of dollars of plant modifications required to comply with new environmental regulations. Why is this news? Anyone who understands how utilities set their prices would know that the new regulations from the EPA would mean higher electric prices for all Americans. Simply put, when a public utility has to make a large investment in its plants, it is entitled to a rate increase to cover the cost of the investment and a profit on those funds. Since utility rates are set by some form of state public utility commission in nearly all states, the rate rises are not only due to market forces but also to state law. Of course, when the EPA is busy trying to end the use of coal in generating electricity, it seems not to ever consider the considerable economic damage that it does to the country in this misguided crusade. Instead, when the rate rise comes, it is a shock; it is a travesty; it is an attempt by greedy corporations to hurt the people! NO, it is just the working of the market and the law.
This is another good example of why Obama and the Obamacrats are preventing the economy from growing. In the last forty years, we have seen power plants reduce their emissions by something in the area of 98%. For most rational people, the cost of getting rid of the other 2% would be a factor in deciding whether or not to take action. For the Obamacrats, however, the damage done to the economy by these moves is never considered. Power generation will be cleaner, but the millions of extra unemployed folks won't be able to afford it anyway. Maybe the slogan should be "Cleaner air with dark cold homes!"
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