Electricity still a bargain for Nebraskans

Drive around McCook neighborhoods these days, and you'll see how much we all take electricity for granted.

We think nothing of stringing hundreds of Christmas lights inside and outside our houses, for nothing more than celebrating the season.

And that's good; we all need a lift during the cold months of the year.

But the power that lights those lights is getting more expensive.

A study by USA Today showed households paid a record $1,419 on average for electricity in 2010, the fifth consecutive yearly increase above the inflation rate. That has added about $300 a year to what households pay for electricity, the biggest climb in electric rates since the 1970s.

And, while income has stayed level, electricity is now taking a larger portion of incomes, about $1.50 of every $100.

Prices hit a record 11.8 cents per residential kilowatt hour so far this year, but electric bills are roughly the same as last year when adjusted for inflation.

Around the nation, power is cheapest in the Pacific Northwest, where hydropower supplies electricity for as low as 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Consolidated Edison, which provides electricity for New York City, is highest, with 26 cents per kilowatt hour.

Nebraska hasn't escaped the impact of higher prices; the Nebraska Public Power District recently approved a 6.5 percent average rate increase for both wholesale and retail customers, effective Jan. 1.

But Nebraskans don't have much to complain about. Our rates, 8.94 cents per kilowatt hour, are lower than all adjoining states, except for Wyoming, where the 8.77 rate might be attributed to the abundance of coal and relatively short distances over which it must be transported.

Colorado has the highest rates of adjoining states, with 11.04, Iowa 10.42, Kansas 10.03 and Missouri 9.08.

There's no mystery why electric rates are going up.

The NPPD board of directors blamed about 4 percent of the increase on a 75 percent increase in coal transportation costs next year.

The rest is due to an increase in annual debt payments for improvements and upkeep of generation and distribution systems.

The state has one nuclear power plant down for repairs -- it was also the source of concern over last summer's flooding -- but both of the state's nuclear power plants are getting old.

Wind power is still expensive and relatively rare in this state, and solar is almost non-existant. Plus coal, our cheapest major source of electricity, is threatened by tighter emissions regulations.

But before blaming the power companies and regulators for higher electricity bills, look around your house. Besides those Christmas lights, how many other activities require electricity?

Are the kids playing XBox all night? Who's surfing the Web? That 52-inch LCD TV on your wall? It uses about twice as much electricity as a 32-incher would, and both of them use more than that old 21-inch picture tube TV you sold at last summer's garage sale.

And, what will happen to your power bill when you trade in your old car for a plug-in hybrid?

Yes, the utility companies need to plan for the future, and alternative energy is one answer. But conservation is something we all can do now.