Scarce Electricity in the Mid-Atlantic

Rolling blackouts in three years? Check out these price increases since 2001:

For many residents, the best clue that the region is having power problems comes in a little envelope every month. The region's major electric utilities have raised their rates an average of 52 percent since 2001, with the largest increases coming in Maryland. Baltimore Gas and Electric rates rose 74 percent in that time; Pepco's Maryland rates, 78 percent; and Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative rates, 157 percent.

A couple of things:

• Rolling blackouts are something we are going to see again and again due to a combination of factors from bad planning, NIMBY, failure to invest, rapid growth in electricity demand (due to a shift to ubiquitous computing), etc. All points to a need for community resilience.
• Strained electricity infrastructure + rapidly climbing costs makes the shift from gas to electricity much more difficult (strains current planning assumptions about viability).
• Higher core energy costs can put a strain on our current economic model as returns on investments in complexity turn negative. We aren't there yet, and a global economic slowdown might help in the short term, but we might be there soon.

Comments

[Andy]

John

I've been paying BGE an arm and a leg over the last 6 months.

My house is modest - 2200 sq. ft. We keep the temps at 68 and turn them down to 66 at night.

Last month's bill was $437.00 - and the sad thing is, the people using oil are really taking it in the shorts this year.

Out of the $437 bill, almost $80 was ticketed towards "power transmission" costs - almost 20% of the total bill.

My wife and I make decent money - we wonder how the people making less can afford the energy costs (gas, electric, fuel oil), the rising taxes (MD is notorious for high taxes), the raising food costs, and the declining growth in salaries.

I'm starting to think some seriously bad times are right around the corner. We have a nuclear plant 25 miles down the coast of the Western Shore from us, and we're still paying huge energy bills.

[fairhavenhorn]

The rate changes in the mid-Atlantic states are harder to interpret because they are coming off a long term rate freeze. These rate freezes are popular, but they do have the effect of slowing adaptation of the power grid to higher loads, and postponing the consumer reactions to economize and reduce use.

[Capt. Jean-Luc Pikachu]

> NIMBY
> community resilience

I can't be the only one who sees a problem here...

Go Giants!