Duke Energy CEO: Cap-and-Trade Plan Would Raise Electric Rates 40%

The Wall Street Journal ^ | February 27, 2009 | Stephen Power

[St. Louis Conservative]

WASHINGTON -- The chief executive of Duke Energy Corp., one of the nation's biggest power companies and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, said Friday that a proposal by President Obama to place a price on carbon emissions would drive up electricity rates in some areas of the U.S. by 40% and warned that it could also lead to "a redistribution of wealth" from Midwestern industrial states to coastal states.

Duke Energy CEO James Rogers said he was also concerned that some of the roughly $646 billion that Mr. Obama hopes to raise by making companies pay for the right to pollute would be diverted to causes unrelated to fighting climate change.

"My view is they'll try to use the money from Ohio and Indiana to subsidize the West coast and the Northeast and to use it for purposes that are different from addressing the climate issue," Mr. Rogers said Friday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Rogers was referring to a provision in Mr. Obama's budget proposal that calls for the adoption of a cap-and-trade system in which the government would set limits on the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that industries can emit. Under such a system, companies would have to buy and sell rights to emit those gases.

Mr. Obama's proposal, which was released Thursday, projects that the U.S. government could raise roughly $645 billion from auctioning off emissions credits between 2012, when the system would kick in, and 2019. Mr. Obama's proposal calls for using about $120 billion of that revenue to pay for new spending on various low-carbon technologies. His proposal calls for returning the rest of the money "to the people, especially vulnerable families, communities and businesses to help the transition to a clean energy economy."

[Myrddin]

I didn’t know Idaho got hot!

The Pocatello area is high desert. At 4600 ft, it is on the eastern edge of the Snake River plain and at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.

There is a nice summary graph from The Weather Channel at this link. You can click the record high/record low boxes to see the limits. Those graphs are averages at the airport which is 7 miles west. It's common around the 4th of July to have evening temperatures in mid 80's. Late afternoons in the mid to high 90's is common most of the summer. I cut may lawn after 6 PM in the summer when it cools down.

The weather chart doesn't show the good news. It's dry here. Summer heat is enjoyable without miserable levels of humidity. It does require attention to hydration. As in any desert, you can become dehydrated quickly. The altitude also plays with your sinuses for the first month or two after moving to this area. Once you adapt, it's just fine.

I have a nice wood pile for my wood burning stove in the family room. We only light a fire on evenings when we have time for a movie. A single log makes enough heat to warm the whole house. That obviously saves on natural gas. The house is properly constructed for the environment. It is very heat efficient. The bedrooms are upstairs. It's easy to keep them comfortable warm in the winter. The basement is my refuge from the summer heat. It stays around +63F all year.

[Plutarch]

But I thought that the “middle class” was not going to see “one dime” of tax increases?

[CottonBall]

Sounds like you have a good setup for minimizing energy costs. Yes, I like dry heat - we moved from the CA Mojave Desert to Corpus Christi. The humidity was absolutely terrible (for everything except my skin). Even 50 degrees seemed very chilly because of the humidity and summers were unbearably hot from May until September, 24 hours a day. At least with dry heat, it cools down when the sun goes down.

[IamConservative]

Aside from the obvious impact on energy prices, this will lead to other unintended consequences as well.

Suffocation deaths because people are burning kerosene heaters without vents.

Fires from same.

Farmers will burn their corn for heat and power generation instead of selling it for food.

Homegrown composters to make methane gas, capture sewer gas and various other in sundry devices to level neighborhoods.

Black market sale of anything that will burn for heat.

Homemade generators, rendering powerline work a deadly experience.

[Myrddin]

But I thought that the “middle class” was not going to see “one dime” of tax increases?

It's not going to be "one dime". It's going to be thousands of dollars of increases.

Recall the story of the mother who warns her children about eating a plate of cookies. She tells them, "Don't eat one". She returns to find ONE cookie left.

[Ditto]

The best thing that can happen is for Obama do what he said he wants to do and further keep America’s head under water. It’s the only way to fully expose how deadly leftist ideas are.

FDR kept America's head under water with his policies and won 3 elections just by blaming it all on Hoover. Obama will just keep blaming it on Bush and the idiots will keep buying that story.

This Global Warming / Carbon Cap nonsense is potentially the end of free enterprise in America and the world. It will give governments everywhere the ability to control every aspect of our lives -- and it's all predicated on a lie.