Energy Costs Set to Increase

The Wall Street Journal reports that every sixth company in Europe’s largest economy now generates its own electricity, roughly 50% more than one year ago. Companies range from rural family-owned to a Dow Chemical plant that consumes 1% of Germany’s electricity.

The reason? Ever-higher electricity prices, driven in part by a 22% government-mandated levy to fund renewable-energy sources, are prompting companies large and small to invest in their own power-generation infrastructure.

Germany aims to drop nuclear power within the next eight years and most fossil fuels by mid-century, while aggressively promoting solar, wind and other green renewable-energy sources. To pay for this shift, the government has slapped a surcharge of about 22% on power bills for businesses and households.

In the U.S., the House of Representatives has approved a bill to block President Obama’s climate plan that aimed at regulating so-called carbon pollution from new power plants. The bill would put a stop to proposed EPA rules and require the EPA to set carbon emissions standards based on technology in use for at least a full year. Those opposed to the EPA’s rule assert that it is based on carbon-capturing technology that does not currently exist and therefore is an unfair standard to set.

While the bill passed by a vote of 229 to 183 in the House, it will not even be brought up for a vote in the Senate.