Despite recent hikes, power rate increase behind other goods
By Ryan Hall | Editor, Rural Montana
There’s no other way to say it, life has gotten expensive. Across Montana, a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs could run you $12 or more. Add bacon, and it’s close to $20.
Electricity is not immune to that trend. There is no doubt you are paying more for your electricity than your parents or grandparents did when they were your age.
However, electric cooperatives have worked hard to keep those rising costs under control. Looking back to 1940, shortly after many Montana electric cooperatives were founded, the average cost of a kilowatt-hour of power in Montana, including both cooperatives and investor-owned utilities, was 5 cents. Today, it’s 12 cents, a 140-percent increase.
Looking at other goods that were similarly priced in 1940, as we do on these pages, while electricity has substantially increased in the last 85 years, it pales in comparison to the increase of those other goods. In addition to the comparisons you see here, we looked at other goods and compared them as well, including milk, bacon, bread and gas.
You will see these comparisons on the Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association social media pages, on the social media account of your electric cooperative and maybe in your co-op’s newsletter that appears monthly in this magazine.
There is no doubt that life has gotten pricier over the years and decades, but your cooperative is looking out for you by providing safe, affordable and reliable electricity.