Threat of Power Shortages Generating New Urgency

Loikow's Pepco bill isn't her only reminder of rising energy costs. Her December gas bill was about $26 more than it was in 2006. Washington Gas rates increased an average of 43 percent from 2002 to 2007.

The story behind the electricity price increases begins in the late 1990s, when Virginia, Maryland and the District loosened their controls on the power industry. As in many other states, the idea was to let customers choose among power suppliers, creating competition that would push prices down.

But instead, rates have gone up.

Power companies say they have been hit with higher costs, which had to be passed on to customers. The prices of natural gas and coal have increased sharply. And because the region needed to import electricity from other areas, utilities had to pay the power-line equivalent of highway tolls.

Some consumer advocates contend that the power companies have abused their new freedom, raising prices to boost profits.

"We have invested time and money in this for seven years," said Paula Carmody, director of the Maryland Office of the People's Counsel, which advocates for residential ratepayers. "And the end result is we have some of the highest rates in the nation."

The region's increasing energy needs are attributable, in part, to its increasing population. But Washington area residents and businesses also seem to be using many more kilowatts per capita than in the past.

In Northern Virginia, for instance, 22 computer data centers have been built, and 24 more are on the way, according to Dominion. Those hives of computer servers are often the size of a small Wal-Mart, and the company says they use about 25 times as much power.

Across the region, new homes are often wired with high-tech, high-energy entertainment systems, as media-room gadgets creep out into bedrooms and kitchens.

"Imagine getting woken up by your favorite song in the morning, going downstairs . . . and looking at the security cameras and then, from that same panel, you're turning on your wall-mounted TV," said Mo Saad, an assistant manager at the MyerEmco AudioVideo store in Tysons Corner.

"It's a lifestyle," Saad said, in which homeowners expect to be surrounded by electronics. "It's everywhere."

The growth in electricity demand has some serious environmental downsides. In Appalachia, some of the area's coal has been extracted through "mountaintop removal mining," burying mountain streams and causing major damage to the landscape.