PUF Affordability Seminars
PUF has developed two seminars on affordability, one for an organization’s leaders and communications professionals, the other for its and regulatory professionals.
Fun Fact of the Week
American consumers paid 20.6 times more per household in Q4 2023 than in Q4 1959, adjusting for population growth.
Electric Rates 1/40th of the CPI
Electricity is 2.522 percent of the Consumer Price Index. As a fraction, that’s about one-fortieth.
Other components of the CPI with a similar weight on this all-important measure of inflation? Full service meals and snacks, like restaurants, have a weight in the CPI of 2.324. Limited service meals and snacks, like fast food, have a weight of 2.272.
Apparel has a weight in the CPI of 2.464. Used cars and trucks have a weight of 2.544. Hospitals and related services have a weight of 2.308. Motor vehicle insurance has a weight of 2.874.
PUF's Electric Bill Affordability Index
The Electric Bill Affordability Index tracks how much consumers can afford other stuff.
Where's Affordability
Electricity has generally been a shrinking part of consumer expenditures since the great recession, while consumer expenditures have grown.
Insights on Energy Transformation from Industry Leaders
The Grid Mod Pod
“During the first set of episodes, we intentionally focused on inviting leaders of companies that serve as partners and suppliers to utilities to share their perspectives. These discussions uncovered layers of insights, particularly emphasizing the potential for revolutionary impact of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning in grid modernization.”
Three Critical Resources: Minerals, Future Workforce, Clean Energy Investments
EEI International
“This month’s column discusses the importance of three critical resources that will help enable the clean energy vision EEI’s member companies share, adapt how we harness our shared global ecosystems, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Woman Engineering the Future
Electric Power Engineers
“I made sure EPE grew like the grid, always looking steps ahead, anticipating grid challenges and building up the services to remove those roadblocks. Our heart and soul at EPE are immersed in solving problems to enable the grid of the future.”
Battle over Net Neutrality Back at FCC
What Comes Next?
“There is a good chance that an FCC decision reclassifying Internet access service as a Title II service and imposing numerous new regulations would be overturned by the Courts, thus presumably restarting yet another battle at the FCC over Net Neutrality.”
Grid Data Sharing Lessons: What Can be Learned from Other Industries
West Monroe & Arcadia
With recently released guidelines on grid sharing in the NARUC Grid Data Sharing Playbook, the spotlight is once again on the national movement toward utility data democratization. Access to utility data such as meter data on customer usage patterns, billing data, grid capacity data, interconnection data, DER data, and more has been shown to accelerate clean energy development and technology innovations in the utility industry.