Electric Avenue- The Pride and Prejudice of Wyoming Power Costs

First, if you don’t know this song, you have been cheated out of one of the eighties greatest gifts to music.  You can listen to Eddy Grants contribution to eighties (greaties) by clicking here..  While we are at it, let’s take a walk down to Wyoming’s proverbial “electric avenue”.  If you haven’t noticed, there has been more than a little consternation over electric rates across our state in the last year.  As we watch the usual suspects bloviate about the topic, we forget why power rates have actually increased.  If you haven’t noticed, Coal and Natural gas have gone up in price significantly over the last few years.  Guess what we primarily make our electricity from? Yup, those fossil fuels, and isn’t that a good thing for Wyoming? I thought so, and many of my neighbors who work in the oilfield thought so too.  Factually, natural gas hit a 10 year high last summer, and while it has come down, those impacts have not hit the power bill yet.  How about coal?  Well, kind of the same song and dance, but don’t take my word for it – use this link for a really cool interactive tool that allows you to research this for yourself.

With all the bluster, we are missing a great opportunity to teach folks how our utilities, minus rural electric coops, are regulated.  Electric Companies are regulated by the Public Service Commission who figures out what the cost of fuel and delivery is and sets your rates based on very complicated and intensive algorithms that keep our utility costs as some of the most reasonable in the nation.  Interested in learning about the Public Service Commission? Click here.

As we walk down to Electric Avenue in Wyoming, it’s important to remember that its largely powered by our fossil fuels.  We have a conundrum between the joy of how cold we afford to keep our beer and the depression of the whiskey we drink when fossil fuel prices are in the tank.  Maybe the middle ground of margaritas on the rocks is the answer.