CPI-Electricity fell 2.1% while overall CPI rose 1.1%
The Consumer Price Index was published Tuesday for the period through April. Electricity? The CPI for electricity has fallen 2.1 percent, April 2016 as compared with a year ago, April 2015.
During the same period, the overall CPI has risen 1.1 percent. This means electricity is significantly less expensive than it was last year.
The CPI for food has risen 0.9 percent. The CPI for all items, except food and energy, has risen 2.1 percent. The CPI for all services, except energy services, has risen 3 percent.
Any way you cut it, electricity has become cheaper.
Over the last year, the prices of some items have risen substantially. The price of apples is up 10.5 percent. The price of house moving is up 10.2 percent. Bacon and butter are up 5.8 and 5.6 percent respectively. Motor vehicle insurance and health insurance are up 6 and 5.8 percent respectively.
Aside from dramatically lower energy prices, beef is much cheaper this year. As are televisions, photographic equipment, telephone hardware, and toys.
The price of electricity hasn't fallen as much as that for a good hamburger or the latest video models. But we in utilities and utility regulation must be doing something right.
For ten years, the price for Public Utilities Fortnightly hasn't budged from 24 bucks per month. Adjusted for inflation, this means PUF is 20 percent cheaper than in 2006. Contact Joe Paparello at paparello@fortnightly.com for one of the best bargains in utility regulation and policy.
Steve Mitnick, Editor-in-Chief, Public Utilities Fortnightly
E-mail me: mitnick@fortnightly.com
