OBAMANOMICS UPDATE: New EPA proposal could raise your electricity bill

11/19/2014

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You could be paying about 20% more on your electricity bill in the next few years if a proposal by the environmental protecting agency is approved.

EPA is proposing to reduce greenhouse emissions by shutting down up to half of the state’s coal fired generation.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as ERCOT, conducted a study and found out that this could not only mean more rotating outages, but also rack up electricity bills by a lot.

We skyped with ERCOT Director of System Planning Warren Lasher, who says the effects on Texans could be significant. 

“The everyday customer would definitely see higher prices on the grid,” says Lasher, “ the cost of wholesale energy would go up, plus, there’s be more congestion on the grid and localized energy grid prices would go up significantly as well.”

Lasher says the loss of half of the coal generating capacity during the summer would put more pressure on the grid and in order to keep up with demand, ERCOT would have no choice but to order rolling blackouts.

The EPA will meet with ERCOT on December 1st to discuss a final decision that will be announced in the summer of next year. It will then be up to state and federal governments to develop plans to meet these requirements.

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