Inflation >4% in Latest report!

[CRLLS]

My electric bill has increased significantly. I had to ask AI about our ComEd electric price increases. Here is AI's response:

ComEd’s all-in residential electricity rates (including supply, delivery, and taxes) currently average roughly $0.17 to $0.18 per kWh, a 10-year high. The all-in rate has climbed nearly 90% over the last 5 years due to surging supply costs and delivery rate increases.

AI's generic answer is optimistic. When I check my last electric bill, my All-In price is $0.23 That increase is likely not quite as much as my home, auto and umbrella insurance. When I add in RMD taxes and the resulting IRMAA and NIT that hit the last couple of years, my personal inflation is way higher than 4.2% .

 

[jazz4cash]

Why did you have to ask AI? AI says 18 cents all in but your bill says 23? I see a lot of AI answers like that.

 

[Zathras]

Why did you have to ask AI? AI says 18 cents all in but your bill says 23? I see a lot of AI answers like that.

There is a difference between your individual costs and the average customer costs.
I assume they were asking AI to see what the company was doing as a whole.

 

[CRLLS]

There is a difference between your individual costs and the average customer costs.
I assume they were asking AI to see what the company was doing as a whole.

Exactly.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Petrol is $3.82 at local Walmart. Ethyl is much more in Central FL.

 

[pb4uski]

Why did you have to ask AI? AI says 18 cents all in but your bill says 23? I see a lot of AI answers like that.

Most likely the rates are graded based on usage. Also, the 18c may be an average of residential and commercial customers.

 

[skipro33]

18 cents per kwh. Ours is 38 cents per kwh PLUS a flat $25 a month just to be connected to the grid.

 

[latexman]

Our electric monopoly is asking the NC regulator for an 18% increase.

 

[G-Money]

That's a pretty biased statement. Us old timers figured out how to manage high inflation, double digit mortgages, etc on $20k/year. I think we would be adaptable and intelligent enough to figure out how to handle this too. It might be more now, but we would figure it out I am certain.

Your comments remind me of some engineers that worked for me and who stated that they didn't need to work 8-10 hour days during high project need/high issue/problems times because, well, they were just "smarter" than we were during "our day" and could get it done in 7 hours. I would tell them I didn't care if they could solve it in 7 hours or 10 hours, it just had to be solved. Some figured out they needed more time to address the issue, and some decided 7-8 hours was all they were willing to do (even in "high need" times) and so they eventually made there way to a company that decided that was ok. That was not the Automotive company for sure....

And that statement is not an assessment based on my "feeling" like the bolded above, it is hard fact based on real life involvement.

Flieger

Yes, it is a biased statement, just like the one I was replying to. But you took issue with only one side of it. Why is that?

The point is young people have unique challenges to their generation and I'm absolutely certain of that. Much of it is a continuation of problems my generation faced when we were getting our start 25 years ago, they've only gotten worse, the bar set higher, and things slightly more out of reach.

 

[jazz4cash]

There is a difference between your individual costs and the average customer costs.
I assume they were asking AI to see what the company was doing as a whole.

Expound on that, please. Where I live we have no time of use or other variation in rates so all residential customers pay the same $/kwh. It gets confusing when customers or news reports use a monthly billing figure that will include weather impacts, etc. Also, are we at a point where people think they 'have to ask AI' and there is no other resource to figure things out?

 

[CRLLS]

Expound on that, please. Where I live we have no time of use or other variation in rates so all residential customers pay the same $/kwh. It gets confusing when customers or news reports use a monthly billing figure that will include weather impacts, etc. Also, are we at a point where people think they 'have to ask AI' and there is no other resource to figure things out?

Same here for all intents and purposes. But when you blend in the fixed cost, the more electricity you use each month, the lower the average cost per kWh.

Yes I have to ask AI. I do not keep records of electric bills over a 5 or 10 year period and if I did, I certainly wouldn't keep records of the breakdown of kWh used each month and how the taxes and credits were blended in. I am participating in hourly electric rates that saves me a couple of $100's each year. Unless I am heating my garage over winter, I am well below the average users of electricity based on similar homes, according to ComEd anyway. I guess that makes my All-in cost per kWh higher than them.

 

[Koolau]

Am I getting this right; people think 4% is HIGH for inflation? I remember double digit inflation when I was in my 30's, working and raising a family. I remember inflation and mortgage rates in double digits as well as unemployment in the double digits. I remember working for 10 years at the same company before I was no longer the least seniority person there, hiring was so slow. I remember being ecstatic when I was able to refi my mortgage down to 7.5%.
Young people these days say we had it easy, homes cheap, no wonder boomers all own homes. Well, as a boomer, I can't ever recall that anything was cheap, that wages could anywhere keep up with inflation, that jobs were plentiful, or gas prices were low and that it wasn't until later in life that I could save enough to rub two nickels together.
In my opinion and personal experience, financially, things are much better now than they were back in the early to mid 80's and not just because I have savings. If I had the same job today I retired with, financially I'd be better off now than then.

Hear, hear!

 

[Zathras]

Expound on that, please. Where I live we have no time of use or other variation in rates so all residential customers pay the same $/kwh. It gets confusing when customers or news reports use a monthly billing figure that will include weather impacts, etc. Also, are we at a point where people think they 'have to ask AI' and there is no other resource to figure things out?

If I use 10 kWh in a month and my utility has a flat connection or min fee of $100/month and 10 cents per kWh (these are completely made up for sample purposes) my cost per kWh for the whole bill is ($100 + ($0.10 x 10kWh))/10kWh = $10.10/kWh

If my neighbor uses 1000kWh his $/kWh cost is $0.20/kWh.

This is why I don’t like that measurement for comparison prices.

 

[Koolau]

4% inflation isn’t like it was in the ‘80’s but it’s still pretty high, especially when salaries are growing less than that. I’m surprised some see it as benign.

Agreed that 4% is higher than normal. No one likes that level of inflation. Still, it's so much lower than the 80s (and even the early 2020s). It's also "understandable." Oil prices tend to drive inflation and it's not just prices at the pump. Oil prices are added to every product shipped and transmitted. With the assumption (or just the hope) that oil prices will decline when the "war" is completed, I think there is a lot less fear of run-away inflation that was rampant a few years back and especially in the 80s.

 

[CRLLS]

If I use 10 kWh in a month and my utility has a flat connection or min fee of $100/month and 10 cents per kWh (these are completely made up for sample purposes) my cost per kWh for the whole bill is ($100 + ($0.10 x 10kWh))/10kWh = $10.10/kWh

If my neighbor uses 1000kWh his $/kWh cost is $0.20/kWh.

This is why I don’t like that measurement for comparison prices.

I agree that it may not be a good formula for comparing your energy use to your neighbor's or someone across the country. That has its limitations, for sure. The alternative is to use the pure kWh rate which ignores the other costs that are based on the kWh used. IMO, using the all-in, bottom of the line cost per kWh is a good way to compare inflation of your own energy expenses over time.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

About once a year I check kWh rate or total consumption. Just not what I focus on. I pay attention to the amount of the bill vs previous bills.

From my perspective thats all that matters.

 

[lawman]

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Rates will be higher for savers. Stay short, ladder and then reap the rewards. Lock in higher rates. Live your life and be happy.

I'm skeptical the Fed will do what needs to be done. The dollar is in the start of a free fall..I think we may see hyper inflation.

 

[Koolau]

I'm skeptical the Fed will do what needs to be done.I think we may see hyper inflation.

What do you consider hyper inflation? What do you believe this would look like and what would be its cause?

I'm not a great fan of the way the FED has handled inflation over the years, but I suggest that the FED does have tools to deal with inflation - especially hyper inflation (if they choose to use them). I claim no expertise on this subject so my questions are acknowledging my own ignorance on the subject.

 

[NW-Bound]

... Ours is 38 cents per kwh PLUS a flat $25 a month just to be connected to the grid.

Here in the SW, SRP charges me $30 for connection fee. There are several different price plans.

1) Flat rate per kWh: 10.97c in the winter, 12.04c in the shoulder season, 13.98c in the summer peak.

2) Two different time-of-use plans, with price as low as 3.95c during sunlight hours, and as high as 40.20c at dusk in the summer peak, and 13.55c to 15.06c at night.

If my solar production is insufficient to get the battery fully charged by dusk, I will use grid power when it is cheap to fill the battery for night use. They encourage this.

My solar power system is off-grid. I can never pump into the grid, nor do I want to. It's always for self-consumption.

 

[GenXguy]

2026 (latest 12‑month): 4.2%

seems we are at least now headed in the right direction... On track for 2% by the end of this administration's term.

LOL We're headed in the WRONG direction. Inflation was headed down since COVID, and now with this administration that you mentioned, inflation is going up rapidly, 200% of the target of 2%. We are seeing the highest prices on most everything in history, and they are only going to go up from here.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I'm skeptical the Fed will do what needs to be done. The dollar is in the start of a free fall..I think we may see hyper inflation.

What makes you say that? I have been watching it as we have bank accounts in other countries and I do not see it.

 

[TickTock]

Annual CPI-U since 2010 (source: Consumer Price Index Data from 1913 to 2026 )

The far-right column is % change Dec-Dec.

Other than 2021-2022 (Covid), inflation was <=3.4%. After Covid, inflation dropped to 3.4% in 2023, 2.9% in 2024, and 2.7% in 2025. 2026 is trending higher, but we won't have an apples-to-apples comparison until early 2027.

 

[Sunset]

My first mortgage was 12 3/4 percent. My last mortgage was about 8 1/2 percent. It felt like going up the financial hill both ways. Thankfully, rest estate appreciation was healthy in those days.

My first mortgage was 14% which was a steal of a deal compared to the banks offering 16% mortgages. And it was only for 5 years...

I used cardboard boxes with a sheet over them for end tables and coffee tables, and a mattress on the floor.

I had $50 left over each month after basics were paid: mortgage, condo fee, electric, 1 house phone, car ins, apt ins, groceries, etc.

My budget didn't include buying clothing, gifts, restaurants, car repairs, or furniture, all that came out of the monthly $50 excess.

I certainly didn't consider life easy, but a struggle was how a person earned success since I didn't have rich parents.

 

[Sunset]

I'm skeptical the Fed will do what needs to be done. The dollar is in the start of a free fall..I think we may see hyper inflation.

I daily check other Country currency and the USD is actually UP a little for the past couple of weeks and has been strong for a very long time, as in many years.

 

[marko]

I daily check other Country currency and the USD is actually UP a little for the past couple of weeks and has been strong for a very long time, as in many years.

+1 Using emotions in making financial decisions is seldom a good approach. I like data.