A poll of 500 utility-company executives finds electricity rates are set to rise for households across the country. Thank regulations calling for more alternative energies and environmental norms for the increase.

More than 90 percent of the executives surveyed believe that rules requiring the use of more renewable energy on top of tougher regulations on coal-fired power plants will mean higher monthly electricity bills for consumers, the poll conducted by the Black & Veatch consultancy finds, as reported by CNNMoney.

Half of the poll's respondents see monthly power bills rising significantly.

Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.

Black & Veatch defines "slightly" as industry slang to mean a 1-3 percent hike, while significantly could likely mean 10-percent increase.

Regulators say tougher new environmental norms slapped on coal concerns will save lives.

Oil prices meanwhile, are coming in much lower than feared earlier this year thanks to a cooling economy and waning tensions involving the West and Iran.

Crude oil prices are currently trading around $84 a barrel, much lower than earlier this year when prices broke $110 a barrel on fears a nuclear standoff with Iran could escalate into military conflicts.

Gasoline prices hit a nationwide of $3.94 in April, according to AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report data, well above today's average for $3.59 a gallon.

"Storm clouds continue to darken around 2012 oil demand growth, with the latest economic data from Europe, the U.S. and China looking softer of late," analysts at JPMorgan Chase write in a report, according to the AFP newswire.

Aside from the European debt crisis, a cooling Chinese growth and worsening U.S. jobs reports have sent oil prices falling, as weaker economies need less fuels to operate.

Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.