“Washington-Baltimore area consumers paid more for utility (piped) gas (19.4 percent) and electricity (9.2 percent) than the U.S. city average, while the price of gasoline (-0.8 percent) was slightly below the average price for the nation in July 2008 as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that 2008’s 9.2-percent gap between local and national electricity prices was the largest difference during July in the past ten years.”