The fixed minimum charge was a much higher percent of electric bills in 1940 in Wisconsin. This was common throughout the country, from Maine to Mississippi, Massachusetts to Montana.

Over the years, the fixed charge remained, well, mostly fixed with little adjustment for inflation. But the variable charges in electric bills continually rose with inflation and with growing kilowatt-hour consumption. 

"... the ownership of luxury items - dishwashers, clothes dryers, air conditioners, etc. - is particularly sensitive to income level." 

Welcome to the Los Angeles/Orange County area in 1970. We found in the Library of Congress this remarkable survey of consumers' adoption of machines, appliance and devices as of 46 years ago. 

Forty-seven percent of households had a color television. Sixty-nine percent had a black and white TV.

Residential customers in New York paid 23 percent less for electric service this February than in February 2015, per new Energy Department data released Thursday. In Massachusetts residential customers paid 22 percent less. Same in Connecticut.

Part of the reason was fewer kilowatt-hours taken. In New York, residential customers took 9 percent fewer. In Massachusetts, they took 15 percent fewer. In Connecticut, they took 17 percent fewer.

There have been 58 months of March since March 1959. Of all those months of March, only one had a smaller percent of consumer expenditures spent on electric bills than March 2016.

In March 2016, just 1.38 percent of consumer expenditures paid electric bills. That's what the Commerce Department reported on Friday, in its gross domestic product release.

Only March 2000 had a smaller percent, 1.34 percent. March 2016 and March 2004 tied for second place, with 1.38 percent paying for electricity. 

The May issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly was mailed to you yesterday! Jam-packed with 19 thought-provoking articles and columns from our industry's intellectual leaders. 

Here's a fun morsel from page 72:

On January 7, 1943, Tesla died in his room at The New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan. He died at the height of World War II, with the Battle of Guadalcanal still raging. 

Yesterday we looked at the cost of electricity in Wichita, Kansas in 1923. Today we'll look at the cost of electricity in Minneapolis in 1926, ninety years ago. 

Minneapolis General Electric charged ten cents per kilowatt-hour for the first three kilowatt-hours used over the course of a month, per room. Per room?

So the number of rooms in your home impacted your electric rate and bill. Because the utility charged seven and a half cents per kilowatt-hour for the next three kilowatt-hours. Again, per room.

Have a five-room house in Wichita, Kansas? In 1923?

A small interconnection with the grid allowed you to take up to four hundred watts at a time. Not a lot of electricity. 

You paid your utility a dollar if you used ten kilowatt-hours over the course of a month. That's a dime per kilowatt-hour. 

Now that's a little less than what you pay today for a kilowatt-hour in Wichita, about twelve cents. Though a dime was worth a whole lot more back then. 

A dime in 1923 was like $1.39 today. So the cost for a Wichita kilowatt-hour in 1923 was effectively $1.39.

This week's columns have analyzed the brand new Labor Department data on how much American households spent on everything during the year ending June 2015, including electricity.

The semi-annual Consumer Expenditure Survey is the source for understanding Americans' electric bills by region, income, age, urban/rural, etc. The government actually asks many thousands of households each quarter to track every single purchase. The credibility and detail, especially through mining the micro-data, is unequalled. 

How many utility commissioners does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Five. A problem for three-person commissions. Three commissioners to hear testimony on whether changing the bulb is in the public interest. One more commissioner to direct staff to write the decision and order, to screw it in. And a fifth commissioner to hear appeals, as to whether screwing it in is actually least cost.

How many utility rate managers does it take to screw in a light bulb?