KAGAWONG—A Billings township councillor who has voiced his opinion for several years now concerning what he says are unfair billing practices by Hydro One, has more ammunition with the announcement by the Ontario government that with the start of the new year has come an increase in hydro fees.
“We are basically getting less (service) for more (cost),” stated Billings Councillor Brian Parker on Monday. “Ontario hydro costs are becoming unreachable financially for the multitude of people and businesses in Ontario. Everyone is having problems living their daily lives with the constant increase in hydro costs.”
“In a lot of cases people are trying to balance the budget in their own households, for food and clothing, house payments or apartment rentals; but hydro is destroying this by these high costs,” said Councillor Parker. “People are progressively having to choose paying for one thing over another, and having to make the decision that heat-hydro takes precedence over food, because they have to live somewhere.”
“Business wise, everyone is being hit hard, especially those businesses that rely on hydro to run their wood fibre or smelting companies,” continued Councillor Parker.
The province has announced the increase in fees, so most people can expect to pay around nine dollars a month more. CBC News reported on December 31, 2015 that the Ontario government is ending the debt retirement charge for ratepayers, but a 10 percent discount called the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit is also disappearing. Unfortunately, the two cancellations don’t offset one another, leaving people paying more.
The Ontario Energy Board also increased time of use rates in November and is planning more rate changes in the new year.
Some people who qualify for the Ontario Electricity Support Program will pay less, however, only some 19 percent of the 500,000 Ontarians who qualify for the new program have applied. That program will be subsidized in part by a $1 per month fee on everybody else’s hydro bill, reported CBC News. Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said the goal of that change is to “maximize the benefits for people who need it the most.”
“In those areas where voters make the biggest impact in elections, they aren’t affected as much as it does those people who live in Northern Ontario,” said Councillor Parker. “If the province is balancing Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) costs as they have proposed, if they want to have balance in the system, everyone, everywhere in Ontario, should be paying the same hydro costs on a per kilowatt, per hour rate.”
“The government needs to balance the system, make it fair and equitable wherever you live in Ontario,” said Councillor Parker. “If they (government) can do it with the OPP they should be able to do the same with Hydro One, and this should include delivery charges because right now they (Hydro One) are socking it to the people on the outskirts.”
Councillor Parker also pointed out thar recently Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk reported that electricity customers in Ontario were overcharged by $37 billion due to the Liberal government’s decisions to ignore its own planning process for new power generation projects.
The Ontario Power Authority’s 20 year technical plan, which was updated every three years and reviewed by the Ontario Energy Board, would have offered protection to consumers, Ms. Lysyk said in the Huffington Post on December 3, 2015.
Instead of following the legislated process, the Ministry of Energy itself effectively assumed responsibility for electricity planning, she said. The ministry issued policy plans and 93 directives that the auditor said did not fully consider the state of the electricity market, did not take long-term effects fully into account and sometimes went against the OPA’s advice.
The electricity portion of hydro bills for homes and small businesses rose 70 percent between 2006 and 2014, which Ms. Lysyk said costs consumers $37 billion dollars in so-called Global Adjustment payments to generators and will cost ratepayers another $133 billion by 2032.
Editor’s Note: Have you got a beef with Hydro costs? Are you having trouble making ends meet because of hydro costs? If so, please contact me at the Recorder at 705-282-1912 or by email at therecorder@bellnet.ca We will endeavour in the next little while to bring some of these stories to light in future editions of the Recorder.
