I invested in a solar electric system to power my home five years ago and while it's sad to see all the people negatively effected by the higher and higher cost of utility electricity, the higher rates certaintly make me feel better about my decision to go solar.
When I first purchased my system I calculated about an 18 year pay back, but I figured so what, at least I'm not throwing my money away to SCE. Now, 7 rate increases later, my payback is probably under 10 years and with the new rate increases my solar system will pay for itself a lot sooner. In reality my solar system started paying back the moment it was turned on.
With solar there will be no price increase, and the fuel is free....