But the private utility has asked state regulators to OK a 25 percent rate adjustment for natural gas starting in January. If approved, it would be the third increase in 15 months, totaling 85 percent. There are multiple culprits behind rising electricity prices. Weatherization measures have been abandoned in some areas, and maxed out in others, making them a less valuable tool against rising consumption and cost. Efforts to save salmon have limited what utilities can do to draw hydropower from rivers.
New technology sucks energy to run everything from wired office buildings to personal computers.
Meanwhile, an unseasonably sunny, cold fall has made for glorious sunrises but weakened the region's power-rich rivers. Northwesterners dodged brownouts last week when a cold snap proved shorter and less severe than predicted. Beyond that, blame California. The Golden State's move to deregulate is regarded by critics as dangerous folly. While federal officials rush to the aid of California, other states on the West Coast grid are whiplashed by the whims of profiteering and hoarding that, in some cases, have run up raw power prices 10,000 percent.