On Monday , the utility put into effect a 8.3 percent increase that tacks on an additional $6.97 per month for the average residential customer who uses 750 kilowatt hours of power, said Scott Surgeoner, a spokesman for FirstEnergy.
The increased rate will cover the transmission charges paid by Met-Ed directly to PJM Interconnection, an organization that coordinates the movement of power from a plant to utility substations. The increase in population across the area contributed to the hike in transmission charges, Surgeoner said. inyork.com/ydr (6/06)
Now if the population is increasing, you would think that the number of connections would result in higher overall transmission fees collected by a greater number of connections. Statistics from the U.S. government seem to indicate that over all electrical use is down as is generation to supply that electricity.
Along with a recession is a reduced demand for power.
US Sales: For February 2009, sales in the residential and commercial sectors decreased by 2.7 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, while sales in the industrial sector decreased by 13.8 percent, as compared to February 2008. For the month, total retail sales were 285.0 billion kWh, a decrease of 34.5 billion kWh from January 2009, and a decrease of 6.3 percent or 19.2 billion kWh from February 2008. Year-to-date 2009, sales were 604.5 billion kWh, a 4.0 percent decrease over the same period for 2008. eia.gov
Generation: Net generation in the United States dropped by 7.3 percent from February 2008 to February 2009. This was the seventh consecutive month that net generation was down compared to the same calendar month in the prior year and it was the second-largest percentage drop this decade. eia.org
Something doesn't add up here. Is PJM/FirstEnergy is scrambling to meet a "increased population" or is less revenue generating a need for profit from a monopoly in the face of conservation and recession?
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