Edison rates to rise in April

Natural gas costs are forcing Southern California Edison customers to pay higher rates, beginning in April:

Average rates charged to Southern California Edison Co.'s 4.6 million electricity customers will jump about 5% next month, with the biggest share of the increase falling on residential customers, according to a pair of decisions issued by the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday.

Beginning April 14, residential ratepayers who use more than 350 kilowatt hours per month — about 60% of the total — should see their bills go up by 7% to 8%, adding about $5 to their monthly bill, Edison said.

...Edison, a unit of Rosemead-based Edison International that serves much of Southern California outside the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, blamed the increase on a combination of factors. These include higher natural gas costs and contracts with independent power generators to ensure that the lights will stay on during summertime surges in demand.

Prices for natural gas, the fuel of choice for most California electricity generating plants, are expected to continue trending upward. Natural gas, mainly imported from Texas and the Rocky Mountain region, has more than doubled in price since January 2002.

Kind of makes the case for LNG, doesn't it?!?