Electricity prices on the way up in US

The high coal and natural gas (which powers 70% of US power plants) prices have driven up electricity costs in the US. The typical residential consumer paid about $100 per month for electricity in 2007. Rates have climbed by 24% since 2000 to a national average of 10.2 cents per kilowatt hour (unit), and this is predicted to grow another 15% by end of 2009. But the higher prices have made the lower cost nuclear-powered and hydro-electric plants more profitable.