Why do public utilities costs vary in different areas?

Why do public utilities costs vary in different areas?

Public utility costs vary in different areas because of the source of fuel that they are using. They may have to pay much more if they rely on oil prices or for gas prices, nuclear depending on the state of the nuclear plant can be actually cheaper. Coal is another big source for utilities. And that again can be more or less expensive depending on how close they are to the coal mines. Hydro power is another one but it can be really quite efficient, like in the Northwest they have lots of hydro power. So it really depends on their cost of producing the power in the first place as to what kind of cost you are going to pay as a consumer for your basic utilities.