If only that were true. For instance, people who live in remote areas still want their airport to be subsidized so they can have convenient access to air travel ($270m per year), and they want a hospital close by, but which cannot be economically supported by them, to the tune of almost $600m per year.
And yes, there are the people who live in highly forested areas who want their electricity without the extra cost of safely running it underground, people who live in hurricane zones who want the rest of us to help pay for their insurance to rebuild on exactly the same spot and more. (So far as I can discern these are mostly the same people who want to cut school lunch subsidies for kids because: uh, cost.)
If I’m wrong, last me with a wet noodle. If I’m right, (and I am right), forever revere me in your heart for telling the truth in this age of chimera and lies.
There is nothing like first hand experience. Drink those two gallons, in four hours, and report back. If you can’t find gallon containers, drink 8 liters instead.
What does that have to do with the costs of electricity in LA?
Stay on topic. What you are saying is minor and more true in Mississippi.
When CT had the October Surprise in 2010 it was because the trees had grown over the power lines. The regulatory board had not approved the huge expenses needed to cut back the trees from the lines in prior years.
Fees were added to cut back the trees. We have expensive electric power in CT. More expensive since 2010.
CA fires add to the fees. Tree clearance is very expensive. Fire damage is expensive. It is only part of the story but it is an important part of the story.
It has nothing much to do with remote airports. Minor stuff.
Only an idiot would try to win that Darwin Award. What does it have to do with CO2? We all breathe in and out CO2 24/7/52 with no ill effect provided you don’t deep dive.
Too much nice, clean, water, has negative effects, just as too much CO2 has negative effects, on organisms to which lower amounts of each are beneficial.
In our January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), we expect that U.S. wholesale power prices will average slightly higher in 2025 in most U.S. regions than last year, except in Texas and in the Northwest. We forecast that the 11 wholesale prices we track in STEO will average $40 per megawatthour (MWh) in 2025 (weighted by demand), up 7% from 2024. We expect the 2025 average U.S. residential electricity price will be 2% higher than the 2024 average, though after accounting for inflation, our forecast for U.S. residential prices remains relatively unchanged from 2024.
Wholesale power prices are an indicator of the cost of generating power and are generally created on an hourly or daily basis in the United States. These prices reflect the operating and fuel costs of the most expensive unit that is needed for fulfilling electricity demand at a given point in time at a defined pricing point location within the power grid, along with any costs associated with transmission congestion into that area. The cost of natural gas is a primary driver of wholesale prices in many regions because the marginal generator is often one fueled by natural gas. We expect that the cost of natural gas delivered to U.S. power generators will average $3.37 per million British thermal units in 2025, which is up 24% from last year’s average but is about the same price as in 2023.
We expect that average wholesale power prices will range from about $30/MWh in the part of Texas where the grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to $55/MWh in the Northwest region. These two regions are the only ones in which we expect lower wholesale prices this year. The Northwest region is still experiencing drought conditions, but we expect conditions to improve slightly this year with 20% more hydropower generation. Increasing generation from solar power projects is contributing to lower wholesale prices in ERCOT.
Other regions of the country are likely to see higher wholesale prices over the next year as a result of higher costs for natural gas. We expect the largest increases (about 30%–35%) will occur in the Southwest and California regions. Forecast wholesale prices in the ISO New England region average $55/MWh in 2025, up 16% from 2024. Although we expect higher wholesale prices in 2025, they would still be lower than in 2022, when the composite average wholesale price reached $80/MWh.
