THE PRICE OF AMERICAN ELECTRICITY

THE PRICE OF AMERICAN ELECTRICITY always has been, and still is, the envy of the world. Even ir New York city, where a kilowatt-hour costs 6 times as much as in Seattle, it only costs a fraction of what it costs in Moscow. But electricity (like telephone rates) is still a bargain in America itself: Not only is it, in spite of the continual rate increases, still quite cheap, but one might almost call it an inflation hedge (if only it could be stored!). Our data come from a veritable treasury of information, The Statistical History of the US (Basic Books, New York, 1976, $24) . I n 1 ,235 oversized pages, it brings 12,500 statistical time series covering almost everything from population and health to crime and transportation. The tables usually start with the year 1900, some with 1850 or 1800, and a few go back to colonial times. They stop with 1970, but one can easily extend them from the current Statistical Abstract of the US ($3.95 from Superintendent of Documents, Washington, DC 20402).
Graph: Price of Electricity cent per kilowatt-hour

From these two sources, we plotted the price of a kWh (broken curve above); then we multiplied by the consumer price index (taken from the same source) to obtain the full curve the price of a kWh if it were to be bartered for other commodities or services such as food, clothing, rent or thumbtacks; the value is expressed in 1976 dollars.

Of course, this is an average for all such goods and services. By picking out a particular case, an even more striking curve emerges. The curve below, for example, shows the rising cost of a first class letter if one were to pay for it in kilowatlhourss that is, the price is plotted in the number of kWh's that that could be bought for the same money at the time.

Graph: FIRST CLASS MAIL priced in kilowatt hours (Going up as Geo. Wash. cries)

Is it unfair to pick out the Post Office?

Yes, it is to the utilities. The generation of electric power over the last half century has seen steady advances of technology and the usual economies of size, but there has been no fundamental revolution (except for nuclear power, which is not yet sufficiently widespread to affect the average price). During the same time, the postal monopoly has peacefully slumbered through at least three major revolutions: the impact of aviation, the introduction of automation, and the advent of the digital computer. What you are looking at is a curve of government monopoly versus semi-free enterprise.

•	Don't let the facts confuse them
•	KEEPING THEIR WORD
•	AMERICA NOT FAR BEHIND
•	HURRY! THE PAINT IS RUNNING OUT
•	FLORIDA US. NEW MEXICO
•	*THE PRICE OF AMERICAN ELECTRICITY*
•	THE TROUBLE WITH COAL
•	FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

Vol. 5, No. 3

Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
Volume: Volume 5
Issue/No.: Vol. 5, No. 3

Date: November 01, 1977 02:08 PM
Title: Don't let the facts confuse them