The Obama Legacy: 400 Parts Per Million -- Oh, Not That One. This One: For First Time In US History, The Average Price Of Electricty Exceeds 14 Cents/KWH -- July 29, 2014

Two readers sent the link to this story "simultaneously" earlier today: the average price of electricity in US climbs to all-time record.

Electricity prices always peak in the summer but much of this year's increase is due to unnecessary political mandates. In every case in which CO2 emissions were invoked, the political mandates simply made "someone" feel better. If you don't believe me, check out the wiki site with regard to coal-fired plants around the world. The US is hardly in the hunt. It's all about China. Even the fact that Germany is now returning to coal is but a drop in the bucket, or perhaps a better analogy, a briquet in a 10-pound bag, I suppose, compared to what China is doing.

I went through the list yesterday and it was mind-boggling. My hunch is that not one elementary school teach who talks about global warming has ever gone through the list, line by line. I doubt Algore has even gone through the list. I had difficulty getting through the list, just trying to pronouce the Chinese names.

Now back to the first story linked above, the one that tells us that "the average price of electricity in US climbs to all-time record." I will bet that story will not be on any of the mainstream nightly news stations tonight.

The article begins (and has a nice graphic):

For the first time ever, the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity in the United States has broken through the 14-cent mark, climbing to a record 14.3 cents in June, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Before this June, the highest the average price for a KWH had ever gone was 13.7 cents, the level it hit in June, July, August and September of last year.

If you like paying 14-cent-kwh, you can send a thank-you note to those you know who support wind and solar. Without wind and solar mandates, your utility bill would be trending down -- all things being equal, as I like to say. 

Americans will not complain about this (new record). First of all, they know how good they have it; some of the lowest rates in the world, and a very, very dependable grid. Knock on wood.

The interesting thing is that for many Americans, the percentage spent on electricity might be going down; I don't know. But electric appliances are becoming more and more efficient. Upper middle class, and to some extent middle class, are eating out more and more, cutting utility expenses associated with cooking, cleaning, and washing. Of course, if they are smart, they will also turn off the air conditioning while they are out, saving a few more pennies.

The few folks who have EVs can save money by charging them at work; if they live close enough to their job site, the round trip might be such they don't have to charge at home. The rich can even make money by installing solar panels and selling electricity back to the utilities.

The middle class will feel it a bit, but not enough to write their Congresswoman. The folks most affected are the lower middle class and the poor. There may be programs to help those folks who have difficulty paying their utility bills. If not, that's something the Federal government could start doing. I've always thought, everyone in the US should get "x" amount of water, electricity, and internet for free. And popcorn. And beverage of one's choice. Everything above "x" amount would then come at a price. People with incomes equal to or greater than that of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett would not be allowed to participate. In fact, they could subsidize the "x" amount for the rest of us.  In Warren's case, it would be in the form of Coca-Cola; in Bill's case, internet.

But I digress.

Hey, by the way, all those wind farms and solar farms -- there's a silver lining in those farms. I'm working on a blog regarding that silver lining but haven't had the energy to complete it.

Speaking of wind farms and solar farms: have you gone back and looked at the linked article: the average price of electricity in US climbs to all-time record?

Quick: after a gazillion dollars in subsidies, grants, crony capitalism, bankruptcies, and articles in The Los Angele Times, over the past twenty years, what percent of US electricity now comes from solar energy. Quick! Is it 5%, 15%, or 35%?

Okay, that was unfair. That was a trick. Even 5% was a bit too high.

Is it 1%, 2%, or  3%?

Okay, I know I'm going to be severely punished by Allah for teasing. One more time. What percent of US electricity now comes from solar energy? 0.1%, 0.3%, or 0.5%.

Yes, one of those answers is "almost" correct.

The answer is: 0.35%.

The 4,594 million KWH of electricity generated by solar power equaled 0.35 percent of the nation’s electricity supply in the first four months of the year.

Home-school children know what that means; for the rest of us, 0.35% is less than one-half of one percent.

You know, one almost wants to cry. I look at all the solar panels going up in southern California (I've seen one project) and all that work after 20 years results in less than one-half of one percent of all US electricity.

Okay, I have to admit, wind is much, much, much more important than solar by almost a factor of 200% -- or something like that. I've never understood "per cents" after we get above 100%.  But wind:

The 68,516 million KWH of electricity generated by wind in January through April equaled 5.2 percent of the nation’s electricity supply during that period.

So, about 5%.

So, that's a nice sound bite, easy to remember. From wind, the US gets about 5% of its electricity. From solar, zero percent. Think about that when First Solar hits a new high. Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. And yes, I accumulate shares in First Solar. As some readers tell me, suckers are born every year. FSLR is off its highs but still doing okay. 

There's a lot of interesting information over at that linked article. The price of electricity looks a lot like the bull market in stocks. The largest rise in price of electricity occurred in the 70's and then in the last decade under President Obama. Who was the president 1973 - 1985 or thereabouts, I forget. Here they are: oh, there he is, Jimmy Carter, LOL, Who would have thought? Of course, rates also increased under Ronald Reagan but so did (almost) everyone's net worth. But what a coincidence: Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

From 2003 to 2013, the annual electricity price index increased from 139.5 to 200.750, a climb of almost 44 percent.

Coal?

I'm not going to do the math, but the percent of coal for generating electricity dropped about 15% from 2007 to 2014, due to the war on coal.

Most of the slack was taken up by natural gas. Nuclear energy also declined slightly, but going forward, my hunch is the nuclear energy decline will be even more significant.

Anyway, it's a great article to read.

US electricity from wind: 5%.

From solar: 0%.

Some numbers rounded.

Disclaimer: I often make simple arithmetic errors and often make typographical errors. I often misread and misinterpret what I read. That's why I provide the links. Some days I'm glad just to be alive.

Another link, same subject, at Investor Village.