Friday, October 07, 2005

Through the roof

TXU (my electric provider) is asking for a whopping 24% increase in rates. That's just insane. My current electric bill in the summer averages around $225. If rates go up by 24%, I'm looking at a bill of about $280 a month. TXU gives the high cost of natural gas as the reason for this proposed increase. So, when the price of natural gas goes down, will our rates go back down? Yeah, I'm going to hold my breath and wait for that to happen.

As for the effect on people, this man pretty much says it all:

"Gee whiz, every time you turn around ... insurance has gone up, taxes have gone up, TXU has gone up, oil has gone up, and you know what? We haven't gotten one pay raise, period," said Edgar Lewis, a retiree in Mesquite and a TXU Energy customer. "We don't go as much, don't eat out as often. Our fun time – recreation – we just don't do anything."

I think our company needs to give everyone a cost of living increase (that's something they do not do - a substantial portion of people working here got no kind of raise at all, and there are people who haven't gotten any kind of raise for years), since the price of everything has gone insane and we're all paid horribly under-market anyway. Yeah, right, I'll hold my breath and wait for that, too.

But maybe there's some hope on the horizon. That is, if we aren't all living in boxes under bridges by the time the price we pay for things reflects the decrease in the cost of crude oil and gasoline in the markets. Assuming they don't just go right back up tomorrow or the next day or the next week. Feh.

2 comments:

Lisa @ The Plain-Spoken Pen said...

Nah, Cassee, not mean. :-) I have no idea what makes it flip out like this, and no idea how to fix it - it does it all on its own. Isn't technology fun? LOL

Mama Gina said...

ugh, I hear ya on the cost of everything going out the roof. :P nuts! On the news tonight they showed a story where the Nashville electric sent two bills to the customers. LOL! of *course* it was an error. glad we're not in that system. LOL!