Are You Feeling the Pinch of Energy Costs in Your Business?
Do you know how much it’s going to cost to go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house this year, in your state?
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council knows. They’ve developed the Small Business Energy Index to show the relative costs of energy in each of the 50 states and District of Columbia. And it’s not just the cost of gasoline that they measure, but also the cost of electricity used in our homes and busineses.
As they point out, government regulation can jack up the energy costs — that’s one reason the costs differ from state to state:
Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather together, usually around a large meal. That will involve a significant use of energy, including for traveling and cooking. No doubt, Thanksgiving is an energy intensive holiday.
However, the cost of that energy - whether filling up the gas tank for a drive to Grandma’s house or powering kitchen appliances or fueling the small businesses that serve consumers on Thanksgiving - varies by state.
Energy costs, of course, are affected by assorted factors. Obviously, it’s about supply and demand. As pertaining to oil, it’s also about various political risks around the globe. The types of energy sources matter as well. For example, is electricity generated from coal or natural gas?
But government intervention in the marketplace also comes into play through taxes, regulations, restrictions and mandates.
These governmental factors explain part of the difference in energy prices from state to state. For example, what taxes are imposed at the gas pump? What fuels are mandated by either the federal government or by the states either directly or indirectly? And so on. * * *
At the top - or the lowest cost states - are 1) Wyoming, 1) Idaho, 3) West Virginia, 4) Kentucky, 5) Indiana, 6) Arkansas, 7) Washington, 7) South Carolina, 9) Utah, 9) Tennessee, and 11) North Dakota, and 11) Nebraska.
At the other end are the highest cost states (including the District of Columbia) - 39) District of Columbia, 40) Vermont, 41) Maryland, 42) Maine, 43) Alaska, 43) Rhode Island, 45) New Hampshire, 46) New Jersey, 47) California, 48) Massachusetts, 49) New York, 49) Connecticut, and 51) Hawaii.
Read the entire list of state rankings for energy costs. The difference between the lowest ranking states and the highest ranking states is startling.
How is the cost of energy affecting your business and your bottom line?
