U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield and the head of ElectriCities traded words over an proposal to curb carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade system.
Graham Edwards, CEO of ElectriCities, told the Elizabeth City Rotary Club that cap-and-trade would drive up energy costs dramatically, the (Elizabeth City) Daily Advance reports.
In a cap-and-trade system, carbon emissions would be limited, but companies could buy and trade allowances. ElectriCities supplies power for 32 cities and towns and Graham said the system could drive electricity costs up as much as 55 percent over 20 years.
Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, was "disappointed" by those comments, and he wrote a letter to the newspaper.
"Studies by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that 40 percent of American households would see little or no cost increase, and that the remaining households would see a maximum increase of 50 cents per day even before discounting the savings achieved from improved energy efficiency," Butterfield said. "A study by the non-partisan Energy Information Administration resulted in similar findings."
Asked about Butterfield’s response, Edwards acknowledged Congress was planning offsets to benefit some portion of residential customers but he didn’t know the details. He explained his projections concerned only wholesale electric costs.
"We don’t look at the residential or the individual rates," Edwards said.
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Re: Butterfield, Electricities CEO mix it up
And once Butterfield and Electricities work out the future cost of cap-and-trade........maybe they will explain the Bermuda Triangle, Big Foot and a cell phone bill.