Several sources are reporting that during a recent White House briefing for Senate staffers a top White House economic aide stated that costs for the impending cap & trade plan could balloon to over $2 trillion.

This latest estimate means the cost of the cap and trade program could be 3 times higher than initial forecasts of $646 billion over the next 8 years.

At the meeting, Jason Furman, a top Obama staffer, estimated that the president's cap-and-trade program could cost up to three times as much as the administration's early estimate of $646 billion over eight years. A study of an earlier cap-and-trade bill co-sponsored by Mr. Obama when he was a senator estimated the cost could top $366 billion a year by 2015.

If this assessment proves accurate, after the final costs trickled down to the average consumer, every family in the United States could see their annual electricity bill jump by $1,800.

... That’s $250-billion each year to be passed along to consumers, equivalent to adding an extra 50% to what the U.S. Department of Energy estimates we spend on energy each year.

A 50% increase on home utilities would average about $150 per month–$1,800 per year–since the average bill is $297 a month according to the White Fence Index. The White House claims it would offset this with an $800 per year household tax credit (and 42% of it would go to those who don’t even pay income taxes). Even with an $800 rebate, the net loss is $1,000 per family per year.

The rapid price increases are of course nothing new. In the runup to the election, we were informed that electricty costs would "skyrocket" under the proposed cap and trade plan.

Additionally, we have been attempting to educate the public on the costs of strict carbon restrictions in our publications for some time. For example, I discussed the potential pitfalls of implementing a cap and trade policy four years ago in in the 2005 edition of American Coal.

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