The Diligent Pay for the Indigent...

Peco Energy Co. electricity customers are about to get a jolt in their bills.

The Philadelphia utility's residential price for electricity is slated to increase 21.5 percent on Monday.

The increase from 8.64 cents per kilowatt hour to 10.5 cents amounts to $13.95 a month for a customer using 750 kilowatt hours (kWh).
 

Wow...21% increase in the cost of electricity in a heartbeat.  That's a tough one to swallow, especially if you are feeling the squeeze of the piss poor economy in any fashion.  I wonder what caused it.

 Peco spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez said the increase was mostly caused by the utility's undercollection of revenue in the second quarter of this year. She said the utility already projects that its price will return below 9 cents on Jan. 1.
 

On the surface, it's not as bad as it appeared.  The rates will (likely) drop again after the first of the new year.  The cause of the increase is what annoys me.  "Undercollection of revenue" is another way of saying deadbeats.  It used to be that when someone didn't pay their bill, the electric company (or in this situation, the distributor of power) would just cut off you electricity.

Now, if you don't pay your bill, someone else has to pick up the slack.  Responsible folks, who pay their invoices end up paying more.  It's similar to the housing mortgage issue.  Some folks set up a mortgage they could afford, while making sacrifices to do so.  Others signed onto a contractual agreement that they could not possibly support.   Those making the poor decisions in that regard rarely feel the repercussions of those decisions, because liberal politicians are too willing to bail them out.  Life's lesson is never taught. 

This very issue, and the housing issue are a microcosm of the 47% in this country who don't pay taxes.