Friday, March 06, 2009 10:45 AM
Sam Chapman
Anyone in Austin Want Higher Utility Bills?
Well, the City Council is at it again. They unanimously approved a huge array of photovoltaic cells east of Austin to generate electricity for city customers. What were they thinking? The economy is in a tailspin, people are losing jobs and spending is dropping. So what makes the city think anyone will voluntarily sign on for more expensive electricity at a time like this? Well, I'll give them a little credit for that - at least it is voluntary.
The city already offered people the option of paying twice or three times more for wind-generated electricity and only around 1% of customers signed up for that. Generating electricity from the sun's rays is even more expensive than wind-generated electricity. One estimate has it at over 4 times more expensive than what customers pay for traditional electricity. My own electric bill during summer months is over $150 (I have a small house...). So do people on the City Council really think I am going to voluntarily pay as much as $600 to cool my house in August? I don't think so.
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