Ontario Hydro Electricity Consumers Getting it every which way (relevant to USA)

CFP ^ | April 1, 2005 | Adam K. Anderson

[MikeEdwards]

April Fools has past, but the joke is still on us! Electricity prices are going up again throughout Ontario.

Who is to blame? It seems like just about everybody.

With OPG making a profit off of the generation of power, the McGuinty Liberals have nevertheless increased hydro rates from 4.3 cents per kWh when they took office, to 4.7 cents last year, and now as of April 1st to 5.0 cents per kWh for the first 750kWh, and 5.8 cents after that.

You will really get hit if you switched to electric heating a couple of decades ago, as the federal and Ontario governments urged all citizens to do.

But that is only the half of it.

Local Distribution Companies (LDC's) such as Hydro Ottawa and Toronto Hydro have taken this as an opportunity to also raise their distribution rates, all approved by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).

Publicly owned LDC's used to operate as non-profits to benefit citizens, but now after raising their distribution rates, Toronto Hydro is a city cash cow bringing in a "profit" of $195 million last year, and smaller "profits" for the other municipally owned power distribution companies. In reality, this profit is a hidden tax on all residents.

Raising LDC distribution rates at the same time as the generation rates, is a cynical attempt by city politicians to hide their power tax in with the provincial increase so they get none of the blame for skyrocketing rates.

And the story gets even worse, with everybody paying a "debt retirement" charge to pay down the debt from the old Ontario hydro — too bad the debt continues to grow.

It is apparent that smart meters . . . .

[MikeEdwards]

I think this is very relevant to the USA because of how the environmentalists in all countries abuse energy problems to get money out of governments and further their other political agendas at the expense of the public whose interests these groups claim to represent.

[BurbankKarl]

4.3? it is 10.2 here in Burbank, and higher elsewhere in CA, and yes, going up again.

[Straight Vermonter]

Vermont has been getting screwed by Hydro-Quebec for years.

If our rates go up for less than 10% per annum it seems like a good thing.

[ruiner]

Electric heating in Canada!!!!!!!!!!

I got outrageous electricity bills in DALLAS FRIGGN TEXAS because of electric heating in an apartment.

I can't even imagine . . .

[MikeEdwards]

It just went up to 5.0 cents per kWh, but that is the tiniest part of their expenses.

There are also local distribution charges, debt retirement charges that don't retire any debt they go into the general revenues of the Province of Ontario, line loss charges, and now the environmentalist want energy conservation charges that will to funding their groups!

[MD_Willington_1976]

Depends where you live in Canada...Where I'm from, Winter is rarely below 35-40*F...Plenty of trees and natural gas to supplement electrical heat...