Conserve energy? What’s in it for me?

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: I try to never complain about the weather to my friends back East. I live in Los Angeles, but we’re gonna have triple-digit temperatures again today and it looks like California’s gonna break the record for power usage. The thing is, my electricity bill doesn’t budge when it’s hot out here. I asked Stacey Vanek-Smith to find out why.

Stacey Vanek-Smith: California is asking residents to conserve energy this week. But there’s not much of a reason to listen, says Jim Bushnell with the University of California energy institute.

Jim Bushnell: When we get to these tight electricity situations, the rates paid by customers don’t change.

Not that energy comes cheap these days.

Bushnell says companies like PG&E that sell electricity to consumers, buy it from wholesale suppliers and wholesale prices have been skyrocketing.

Bushnell: And, yes, that is actually a good thing because prices tell us we’re running out, and when we’re running out, we want to reduce consumption.

But Bushnell says companies like PG&E can’t pass wholesale prices onto consumers because of regulations that cap electricity costs, and that stifles innovation.

He says energy-saving technology would become profitable a lot faster if people could save money by using it.

In Los Angeles, I’m Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.