By Dave Downey - ddowney@nctimes.com
North County Times
July 11, 2009

Retired schoolteacher Sharon Reid and her husband, Dewitt, a retired Marine major, pay $170 in a typical month ---- and some months more than $230 ---- to cool and light their 2,000-square-foot, tri-level home in Vista.

Without making any changes in lifestyle, their electricity bill is likely to increase by $45 a month on average as California overhauls its power grid and tries to shift the source of one-third of its electricity from fossil fuels to green sources by 2020.

A new state report says California electricity rates will rise about 27 percent by 2020, with close to half the increase triggered by the switch to green energy.

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