Huge increase in electric bills seen in the next few years

Via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, this Chicago Tribune article pretty much confirms what President Obama promised; that our electric bills would "necessarily skyrocket" as a result of new environmental regulations that will make coal-fired electric plants virtually a thing of the past.

The increases are expected to begin to appear in 2014, and policymakers already are scrambling to find cheap and reliable alternative power sources. If they are unsuccessful, consumers can expect further increases as more expensive forms of generation take on a greater share of the electricity load.

"Each generator will have to decide for itself whether the investment required to meet environmental requirements can be justified based on its projection of market prices and the cost of its capital. In any case, those costs will be passed through to consumers," said Mark Pruitt, director of the Illinois Power Agency, which procures electricity for Illinois.

American Electric Power, one of the country's largest coal-burning electricity generators, said Thursday it will retire nearly a quarter of its coal-fueled generating capacity and that it will spend up to $8 billion to retrofit remaining units to meet regulations that start taking effect in 2014. Those moves will have an impact.

"The sudden increase in electricity rates and impacts on state economies will be significant at a time when people and states are still struggling,'' AEP Chairman and CEO Michael G. Morris said.

There is also a chance that actual shortages - you know, the kind that occur regularly in Third World countires - might hit the grid with rolling blackouts, brownouts, and perhaps even regulations that would outlaw HDTV's, certain refridgerators, and other appliances that consume a lot ot electricity.

Yes, but at least we'll stop global warming in its tracks...or not. For every atom of CO2 we stop emitting in the US, China and India will put two into the atmosphere. Their economies will boom. Ours will shrivel.

Has there ever been a great nation that committed economic suicide for no real reason?