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We Must Be Doing Something Right

CPI-Electricity fell 2.1% while overall CPI rose 1.1% 

The Consumer Price Index was published Tuesday for the period through April. Electricity? The CPI for electricity has fallen 2.1 percent, April 2016 as compared with a year ago, April 2015.

During the same period, the overall CPI has risen 1.1 percent. This means electricity is significantly less expensive than it was last year.

The CPI for food has risen 0.9 percent. The CPI for all items, except food and energy, has risen 2.1 percent. The CPI for all services, except energy services, has risen 3 percent.

Any way you cut it, electricity has become cheaper.

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Electricity Prices Are Down, So Are Consumers Using More?

Electricity prices have fallen dramatically in several regions, especially adjusted for inflation, but is this leading to greater consumption?

The Consumer Price Index was published last Tuesday for the period through April. Electricity? The CPI for electricity has fallen 2.1 percent, April 2016 as compared with a year ago, April 2015.

During the same period, the overall CPI has risen 1.1 percent. This means electricity is significantly less expensive than it was last year.

Electricity prices have fallen dramatically in several regions, especially adjusted for inflation. 

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Public Service Commission from Where?

Before even utility business model 1.0

The Public Service Commission's chief engineer authored the report. It's:

"an analysis of the theories and principles of electric light and power rates... to devise a rate which will cause each individual consumer to pay in direct proportion to the cost of rendering him his required service."

A filing in a proceeding about utility business models? You might say that.

Except that the author was chief engineer of the Saint Louis Public Service Commission. Say what?

Except that the report was authored on August 25, 1910. A hundred and six years ago!

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Before Electric Industry Consolidation

In New York City, as many as ten privately-owned utilities provided service.

The lead article in the June issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly, by Tom Flaherty and Owen Ward, tells the story of the electric industry's consolidation. The impact on the number and size of companies has been extraordinary.

Let's go back in time, to well before the consolidation of the last 20 years.

Take a look at the 1925 NELA Rate Book, published 91 years ago. NELA, the National Electric Light Association, was the Edison Electric Institute of its day.

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Load Growth, with Electric Toilets?

The electric car and, yes, the electric toilet will save the day.

As the grid becomes cleaner, emitting decreasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other emissions with each kilowatt-hour, we can expect some rekindled interest in load growth.  

The electric car is often cited as a future source of load growth. But electric toilets?

According to the web site Priceonomics:

"For anyone who has traveled through Japan, one of the greatest cultural experiences is discovering a modern Japanese toilet. These toilets, known as 'washlets,' have many amazing features - the most notable of which is they render toilet paper obsolete.  

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Rooftop Solar Generated Half Percent in Q1

Last week’s Energy Dept. report: rooftop solar generated less than a half percent of residential consumption in Q1 2016.

Before the Memorial Day weekend, the Energy Department reported on the first quarter, January through March 2016. 

Residential rooftop solar across the nation generated 1.6 million megawatt-hours in Q1. Residential customers consumed 346.8 million megawatt-hours of grid electricity. 

So solar on the roofs of homes covered a half percent of homes' consumption of electricity.

Homes' consumption was down by 31.4 million megawatt-hours, compared with the prior year, Q1 2015. But this eight percent drop had little to do with solar trends. 

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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US Energy Dept. Reports Germany is Still Coal Country

Germany is clearly embracing renewables, but reduction of climate change gases seems secondary.

The US Energy Department reported last week that Germany, notwithstanding its renewables rep, is still a coal country.

What was coal's share in Germany in 2015? It was 44 percent.

What was coal's share in the US in 2015? It was 33 percent. 

How about the trend for coal in Germany? In 2013, coal's share was 45 percent. In 2014, coal's share was 43 percent. 

So coal actually increased its share in Germany from 2014 to 2015 by a small amount.

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Received Your June Issue of PUF?

92 pages, 20 articles, 24 authors including Flaherty, Jensen, Patterson, Hyman, etc., columns by EPRI and Nat. Governors Assn.

To whet your appetite for the June issue of PUF, here are three excerpts from my interview with Jim Fama, on his last day before retiring as EEI's vice pres. for transmission and distribution. An amazing career.

 

"Disney World was one of our partial requirements customers [at Florida Power Corp.]. 

One of my very first trips over there, I went to Epcot for a contract negotiation. Every one of their guys had a Disney 'My name is Bob' badge. 

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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One in Seventy-One Dollars Spent on Electricity

Last week’s Commerce Dept. GDP report: April 2016 was second-lowest April ever for electricity expenditures

Last week the Commerce Department published its estimate of the Gross Domestic Product through April. And the numerous components of the GDP. 

Including consumer expenditures on everything from window coverings to spirits to flowers, seeds, potted plants to lotteries to dentists to ... electricity.

In April, consumption expenditures totaled 12,645.7 billion dollars, on an annual basis. About 12.7 trillion. 

Expenditures on electricity were 177.6 billion dollars, again annualized. About 0.2 trillion.

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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Residential Sales Sag

2016 could place in fifth or sixth or seventh place. Behind 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 for sure, possibly 2013, 2007 as well.

In the first quarter of 2016, electricity sales to residential customers were 346.8 million megawatt-hours. This was well below sales in the first quarter of 2015. And well below sales in first quarter of 2014.

Q1 2016 sales were 8.3 percent below sales in Q1 2015. And they were 10.9 percent below sales in Q1 2014. 

Sales in March, the last month of the quarter, were particularly low. They were 14.4 percent below March 2015. And 12.4 percent below March 2014.

Byline: 

Steve Mitnick

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