What would you do if you opened your utility bill next month, and there was a 25 % increase in your rate?
The truth is a lot of homeowners are getting hit with exactly that kind of rate increase. In fact, the hidden problem in the current housing crisis is electric bills can get so high; it’s as if homeowners now have a second mortgage payment.
And there are more and bigger increases expected this year in at least fifteen states, as the deregulation of utility companies continue, rate caps come off in certain states, and the cost of oil continues to rise.
How can this happen?
The answer to that is...
The answer to that is complicated. But it all leads to back to
deregulation. To understand regulation, you need to go back into history a bit. In 1935, Congress enacted the Public Utility Holding Company Act. In part, PUHCA regulated the utility industry the following ways:
1. It prevented utility holding or parent companies from investing in other business ventures.
2. It kept non-utility businesses from owning utility companies.
3. Required the SEC to approve any merger or utility acquisition by a holding company to prevent the formation of cartels
4. Regulated the rates and fees that utility holding companies could charge consumers.
Why is all of this important to you, the homeowner? Find out in our Electric Deregulation : Part 2
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