High Utility Bills Continue To Make Life Miserable For People All Over The World

      We continue to be haunted by stories about high utility bills all over the world. Yesterday afternoon, I was watching CNN. There was a poignant and touching story coming out of Baltimore. A middle-aged woman with Multiple Sclerosis was interviewed. She was suffering in the summer heat of Baltimore. Based on her medical condition, air conditioning is not a luxury; it is a necessity of life. Her utility bills blew up to the point that she could no longer pay. Her power was cut off by Baltimore Power and Light. Her health suffered. $2,000 US worth of food was destroyed. Some people came to her aid. She was put in a subsidized program for low-income people with special health needs. She got grants from the US government. Her power was turned back on. Despite all these moves, she was lamenting that her next utility bill was in the range of $500 US. She wondered how she would pay this high bill with her limited income.

        One of our readers, Artemis Westenberg, wrote an in-depth article on the high price of electricity and natural gas in Holland. Artemis indicated that over 2 million of Holland's 17 million population could not afford their utility bills. I shared her excellent report with you. In England, electricity bills have gone up an astounding 98% in one year. There is a movement starting in England for the entire population to refuse to pay their utility bills. The FT of London did an article on this movement in today's newspaper.

    China has problems with high utility bills. Droughts have dried up rivers and water bodies that normally produce hydroelectric power. China is forced to burn more coal. They do this with great regret. Electricity is not immune from the laws of supply and demand. As the demand for electricity increases and the supply falls, utility bills go up.

     Elena and I used to have an electricity and natural gas bill of $600 US+ before this power crisis began. I went to work with a power consultant. I got the power bill down to an average of $385 US per month. With the help of one of our readers, John Peterson, we installed solar power. The monthly bill went down to an average of around $230 US per month. If we had not gone solar, who knows what our former average bill of $385 US per month would be; perhaps $500 or $600 per month?!

     Elena takes the attitude that governments all over the world should break up private utility companies like PG and E. Small competitors would be established to take their place and create competition. There is some merit to what Elena says. Such a move would take a lot of time to implement. I think that what needs to be done immediately is subsidies to help people to pay these high utility bills. It would take several pages to present my ideas here.