High Energy Costs for the Poor Might Push Action in Congress

I'm retired in a rural area where the local co-op sells electricity at 7.75 cents a Kwh. Because my newer home was built with energy efficiency in mind, I spend between $26 and $92 a month for electricity. Although I live four miles from town, I only have to make 1-2 trips a week in my 25-28 mph Mazda.

Contrast that with my neighbor just down the road. Because he lives in an old mobile home that is all-electric, it's not unusual for him to have $500 electric bills, and his place is half the size of mine. The local employment situation being what it is, he drive 30 miles one-way to work, in an old pickup that might get 15 mpg going downhill. Both his kids are very active in sports and other after-hours activities at their high school, which is about 12 miles away, and both work at a local fast-food joint. I'm sure that as a family, they must spend every dime they make on food and energy. They are one major medical bill away from being homeless.

Interestingly enough, I fuel costs were to go up significantly, but slowly, and stay there, it might improve the situation. If world fuel costs go up substantially, global trade makes less economic sense, and the good-paying jobs that corporate America has been off-shoring would slowly return. We have a couple of local plants, now vacant, that could easily be re-opened, and we have some nice tax breaks and other incentives to help sweeten the deal. And although we are rural, we do have enough population density to support limited local bus service if the cost of driving went up.

Our entire economy has been built on cheap energy, but I fear those days are nearing an end. The sooner we start adjusting to increased energy costs, the less painful it will be.

Bob of MO 6:06PM March 23, 2010