Remember when we paid out the nose for utilities last winter? It wasn’t a lot of fun. If two utilities have their say, we’re going to be paying even more this winter.
Here’s Five Fast Facts about Possible Utilities Hikes:
- 🥶 Two in One - The utilities in question are We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service. They’re owned by the same source, WEC Energy Group out of Milwaukee.
- 🔥 Double Digits - If they have their way, the average homeowner will pay an additional $14 a month in 2023. That’s a 13% increase for We Energies and almost 15% for WPS.
- 🏭 Big Business - We Energies’ plan also involved raising rates for industrial customers by just 6.4% (vs. your 13%) and WPS would raise rates for their industrial customers by 7.27% (vs your 15%). So big business pays less while the rest of us pay more.
- 📈 Upward and Upward - Worse, natural gas bills are already expected to go up by 28% due to price increases brought about by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- ❄️Pointing the Finger - WEC Energy Group is claiming that not raising rates would cause lower stock prices and credit ratings, and cause real damage to the shareholders. They’re blaming the upfront cost of the shift to renewable energy. Their profits, btw, have increased by double digits each year over the past two years.
🔥Bottom line: How much of this is preparation for the future and how much of it is robbery in plain sight? That’s up to you to decide. They can point the finger at the Green Energy Boogeyman all they want, but that will only provide a brief distraction. Because if these hikes are approved, a growing number of people are going to be literally left out in the cold, while WEC Shareholders’ stock prices are safe.
What do you think of the rate hike?
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