By Kevin Killough | Just the News
“Blue States, High Rates” study analyzes climate and net-zero policies in each state and shows that the common factor when it comes to high electricity rates is whether a state has these policies in place. And those are primarily blue states.
Polls consistently show that affordability is a top concern for voters, and that includes the cost of their utility bills. An Ipsos poll released in May showed that 79% of respondents would support a political candidate who promises to lower their utility bill. The poll also found that 58% of American bill payers don’t understand what drives their utility costs.
Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research have been attempting to analyze the relationship between state policies and electricity rates. Last December, they completed an analysis of electricity rates and found that residents of blue states see higher electricity bills than those of red states.
That analysis did a deep dive into five states to illustrate that the common factor between high-electricity-rate blue states was that they tended to adopt stricter renewable energy requirements and climate policies.
They’ve now expanded that analysis to include all 50 states and Washington, D.C. For each state, the analysis looked at various net-zero and climate policies, including renewable portfolio standards, which require utilities to source a minimum percentage of electricity from renewable sources. The researchers looked at carbon pricing, which charges utilities for the amount of emissions they produce. The analysis also looked at natural gas infrastructure, data center consumer protection laws, net metering and utility net-zero pledges.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT JUST THE NEWS