Tuesday, October 10, 2023

The gas and electric utility Consumers Energy here in Michigan is price gouging under Green Energy Joe, yours probably is too

Compared to November 2020, my new budget plan payment for combined natural gas and electric for the coming winter will be 42% higher than it was three years ago, despite the fact that natural gas prices have normalized almost to the penny.

Electricity is up 25% since Green Energy Joe got elected and isn't coming down, but that can't account for it since I consume far less electricity than natural gas on an average basis. More than 65% of my energy consumption in kWh is from natural gas in the last year, as it is every year, less than 35% is from electricity.

A 25% increase to 35% of my old bill would result in a total payment today less than 9% higher. Instead it's 42% higher.

Remember that the utility uses natural gas to generate the electricity, too, and it's paying normal prices today for the gas, not the inflated prices of the recent past.

There's no excuse for the extra cost I'm paying.

The utility is price gouging.