Electric rates lose ground to CPI

Released Feb 19, 2019:

It was the final day of the NARUC Winter Policy Summit last week. Many of us were still hanging out at the Renaissance Washington talking utility regulation and policy. 

That’s when the Consumer Price Index came out for January. What does the latest CPI say about electric rates?

The CPI for all goods and services, for the whole country, was up 1.6%. Prices are generally increasing slowly.

The CPI for electric service, countrywide, was up 0.4%. Electric rates are increasing very slowly.

So slowly that the PUF CPI Gap, the CPI for all goods and services minus the CPI for electric service, was 1.2. We should pat ourselves on the back. Electric rates are losing ground to consumers’ cost of living.

In the northeast, the CPI for all goods and services was up 1.5% but for electric rates was down 0.8%. The PUF CPI Gap in this region was 2.3.

In the west, the CPI for all goods and services was up 2.7% but for electric rates was up 0.5%. The PUF CPI Gap in this region was 2.2.

In the midwest, the CPI for all goods and services was up 0.8% but for electric rates was down 1.2%. The PUF CPI Gap in this region was 2.0.

Only in the south did the CPI for electric service, up 1.4%, keep up with the CPI for all goods and services, up 1.2%.

Consumers in the northeast, midwest and west are experiencing electric rate deflation, using as a benchmark the prices of all goods and services.