The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a utility group that opposes increased limits on coal use, said this year more than half of American families, or those with annual incomes of less than $50,000, will be spending as much as 20 percent of their annual incomes for energy.Compared with the rest of the country, Utah families have been fortunate in terms of the increases they have been facing in their electricity and heating bills. At a time when electricity rates were doubling nationally, power bills in Utah rose only 42 percent while the cost of heating a home with natural gas has trended downward and now costs the typical family living in the state 22 percent less than a decade ago.
Tim Funk of the Crossroads Urban Center, an organization that serves and represents the interest of low-income residents of the state. He states, "But we also now have our power company — Rocky Mountain Power — telling us we’re going to be in for annual rate increases for a good number of years." Salt Lake Tribune
