Typical household energy bills to increase by 35% in 2020 from 2012, devastating seniors living on fixed incomes.
(Alexandria, VA) – A new study released yesterday by Energy Ventures Analysis, Inc. (EVA) warns of deep increases in the price of electricity for consumers and manufacturers over the next few years due to the cumulative effect of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules, including mercury and regional haze regulations and the proposed Clean Power Plan.
EVA is an energy industry analyst that has been providing sophisticated market models to industry and over 30 Public Service Commissions and state legislatures since 1981.
In a press release, EVA states that by 2020, EPA rules and energy market impacts will increase the cost of electricity and natural gas by nearly $300 billion in 2020 compared with 2012, and will raise the average household’s energy bill by $680 per year. The cost increase will further make the U.S. industrial sector less competitive in global markets and increase prices for consumer goods.
The new study brought a response from 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, leader of the nation’s largest center-right seniors organization with over 7.2 million supporters. Said Martin:
“Once again we have independent verification of how devastating and destructive the EPA’s litany of new regulations will be on seniors and our most economically vulnerable. While nations such as China and India continue to invest in conventional energy plants, the U.S. will be unilaterally restricting itself, with average Americans paying the heavy cost.
“This study complements our own recent study of EPA’s proposed greenhouse gas regulation of existing power plants and the mercury rule through 2030.
“Research has proven that America’s more than 70% of seniors living on fixed incomes often have to choose between food, medicine and keeping the heat on during freezing winters such as the one right before us. Seniors already pay a disproportionate amount of their monthly income for energy, so raising their energy bill by up to 35% when so many already live on the edge of economic catastrophe is absolutely unconscionable, and just one of many reasons these senseless, punitive regulations must be stopped.”
-30-
