By: SIMONE SEBASTIAN |
Summer electricity bills nationwide will fall to their lowest level in four years, largely due to a milder weather forecast for June through August, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. But residents of the Southwest, including Texas, are expected to shoulder the largest electricity bills in the country.
The average U.S. home will pay $395 to keep the lights on and the air conditioning flowing during the three-month season, a 2.5 percent drop compared to last year’s sweltering summer.
The federal agency projected this week that a 4.6 percent decline in power demand will offset a 2.2 percent jump in electricity prices.
The agency estimates that homes in the West South Central region — Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana — will shell out an average of $503 for electricity during the summer, a 1.9 percent increase over last year.
The federal agency believes residents in the region won’t trim their power use enough to outweigh rising electricity prices.
