Nicor Tells Customers to Bend Over

RoadRage is in a foul mood tonight. The wife told me earlier this week that our electric bill jumped almost 300 percent in July compared to how much we paid in May -- even though we were on vacation for an entire week last month.

Now, we just received our Nicor Gas bill, and that bill jumped from $53 last July to $191 this July. We have been on the budget plan for the last three years, and since January, we haven't paid less that $100/month once.

Since the oil companies are getting away with price gouging, all the other utility companies are coming to take their piece of the pie. The high cost of electricity is mind-numbing enough, but the exorbitant prices Americans are paying for gas right now are completely unjustifiable and criminal.

Let me explain why I'm so pissed and why I feel Nicor should be investigated. First off, numerous industry analysts and news media have reported that the nation is flush with natural gas reserves. Gas companies are practically swimming in the reserves they have, and there's more to come over the next several months. Check out this quick report from CNNMoney for a brief explanation.

If you follow that link, you'll notice that the nation is so flush with natural gas that the state of California has legislation under consideration that will create tax incentives and provide government funding to develop cars that run on natural gas -- that's right, we have so much natural gas that there are some, including T. Boone Pickens (who developed the much ballyhooed Pickens Plan) who believe it can end our dependency on oil. So, the supply and demand claims that Nicor and other natural gas providers will make won't hold water.

Also -- surprise, surprise -- Nicor just reported quarterly earnings this past Monday, and profits in the last quarter increased 61 percent. They brought in 64 cents/share, compared to expectations of 28 cents/share. Yet, they are working with the Illinois Commerce Commission to increase their rate of return. Yeah, I guess a 61 percent profit increase isn't enough, when many American people are struggling to make ends meet, to pay their mortgage or to put food on the table for their families.

As the nation's political leaders continue to make up excuses for the current recession, not one of them is putting real pressure on the oil industry or the utility companies to change their ways. If they are left alone to continue their raping of the American public unabated, we will soon fall into a depression. But, again, who cares; as long as the utilities and their investors continue to get richer and richer.

RoadRage