Tiered Electricity Rates: Montana vs California -- Not a Bakken Story

I normally wouldn't follow this and I certainly wouldn't post it under "normal" circumstances, but the irony is too good to pass up.

This is one of those stories that just make "you" feel good. Because most of "you"want to be good stewards but can't afford a $50,000 subcompact.

The "most green state" charges more for charging your "green" car with a social engineering policy that some Montana folks don't want to emulate.

Cowboys are always straight shooters.

Here's the story, based on a year-long study out of Purdue University.

California has a tiered electricity rate: the more electricity you use, the higher your rate.

There is a bill in the Montana legislature that would prevent this social engineering.

Californians already pay a higher rate than "the average" in the US; about 35% higher.
"The tiered system was put in because California wanted to be green and discourage electricity consumption," said Wally Tyner, an energy economist and lead researcher on the study. "The unintended consequence is that it also discourages electric vehicles."

And it gets worse.

• A plug-in hybrid Volt would increase the average household's electrical usage 60%. 
• The same principle would apply to all-electric vehicles such as the Leaf.
• Both the hybrid Toyota Prius, which doesn't need an outlet to charge, and the gas-powered Chevrolet Cobalt are more cost-effective in California; BUT,
• Oil prices would have to rise from less than $100 a barrel now to between $171 and $254 to make the Volt as economical, even after factoring in thousands of dollars in government incentives.

The Purdue findings, which took more than a year to compile, were published in the Energy Policy journal.

There was only one error in the study. These are not electric cars; these are coal-powered cars.