Holy crap, Batman. We just got tipped off by some birdies that Dominion Virginia Power has requested a rate increase in electricity prices of nearly 20%!

Dominion Power’s President, David A. Heacock explained “the market prices of fuel used to run our power stations – coal, natural gas, fuel oil and uranium – have risen by more than 200 percent in some cases since fuel rates were last fully aligned with market conditions in 2004.”

Unfortunately, we live in a world where most of our energy consumption is linked to fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources. If you want to change things, you aren’t going to get it by sitting around waiting for energy companies to make that change for you. You have to conserve and take other initiatives to reduce your energy bill.

While we’ve already seen an increase in food prices, this will put a lot more pressure on local businesses that consume power. Expect businesses to pass on increased energy costs to you later this year.

Dominion explained:

The SCC must approve the fuel rate increase and deferral of additional fuel costs before they can take effect. The proposed fuel rate adjustment would increase the average monthly bill of a typical residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month by $16.61, or 18.3 percent, to $107.20. Without the deferral proposed by Dominion, the requested increase would have been 22.2 percent for the same typical residential customer.

These rate increases would be effective July 1, but still need to be approved in upcoming weeks. Does anyone have any information on how likely this is to be approved?

If you want to read more about the details of the price increase, go here. We also have some informative charts you can read after the break. So much for those presents from Uncle Sam!

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