If you live in Maryland, DC, get ready to pay more for your electricity. Both PEPCO and BGE have recently announced price hikes that could add as much as $6 to your monthly power bill.

$6 may not seem like much. After all, that’s only $72 extra every year. But consider the following:

  1. Maryland, DC already has some of the most expensive electricity rates in the country, with only 14 states charging more for residential power. For many homeowners, monthly electricity bills represent a sizeable chunk of household budgets.
  2. This recent increase reflects a larger trend in rising electricity prices across the state. For the average Maryland, DC homeowner, monthly power bills are more than 50% higher than they were just 7 years ago. Even modest increases can have substantial impacts when you factor in the long-term.

And this trend is not isolated to PEPCO or even Maryland, DC. Across the planet, electricity prices are on the rise. In a world with dwindling fossil fuel reserves and exponential population growth, electricity is subject to the laws of supply and demand.

In other words: There is no upper limit to how high your electricity bill will go in the coming years.

Protecting Yourself from Future Electricity Price Hikes

Fortunately, when it comes to controlling your electricity costs, you have options:

1. You can always shop around. After all PEPCO and BGE are not the only games in town. But this merely buys you time since, as mentioned before, electricity prices are on the rise globally.

2. You can make simple energy efficiency improvements to your home or business. The less power you consume, the lower your monthly bill.

However, energy efficiency offers limited gains due to a phenomenon known as Jevons Paradox. In short, the more efficiently we consume a resource — the more of that resource we end up consuming. Just think about how much more you end up driving after buying a fuel-efficient car.

3. The last (and most practical) option is to simply reduce your dependence on grid electricity. By installing solar panels, for example, you can independently generate your power from the sun. As grid electricity prices continue to rise, you derive your energy from a power source that remains consistently the same price: i.e. free.

Even the most expensive solar installations on the market have relatively fast payback periods, allowing you to enjoy handsome returns on your renewable energy investment.

For optimal protection against future electricity price hikes, consider adopting a comprehensive strategy that includes:

  • shopping for the least expensive utility rates in your neighborhood
  • making the most affordable energy efficiency improvements you can
  • installing renewable energy technology to reduce reliance on the grid

Not only can these steps limit your exposure to future price hikes, but done correctly, they can actually drive your electricity bill down to $0 a month. To learn more, click here