Ottawa Hydro Rates Up Again (A Lot!) on May 1, 2016

 

Be warned that Hydro has become more expensive – again – on May 1. And don’t forget that mid-peak and on-peak time have switched again: it’s now MOST expensive from 11am to 5pm.

Give a cheer that we in Ottawa and Ontario saved electrical energy this winter. We didn’t use as much and didn’t spend as much on hydro as the companies projected, so we’re going to be rewarded.

They’ve increased our hydro rates!!! Yes, that’s our present for conserving energy.

The Hydro Ottawa website says: “The total monthly bill for a typical residential customer consuming 750 kWh per month increased by approximately $3.13 per month”. Doesn’t sound so bad when they spin it that way. But they don’t bother mentioning that this is only the increase on the November and January increases!

As noted on the image, the increases are:

2015 Oct 30 2016 May 1 increase
$ 0.080 $ 0.087 8.75%
$ 0.122 $ 0.132 8.20%
$ 0.161 $ 0.180 11.80%
Maybe they should be legislated to limit their increases to cost-of-living? Oh, but it’s being privatized, so would that even be possible?

Or perhaps we can look forward to rebates/discounted rates if we use more than they project?

Here’s an article by CBC news: Hydro rates going up this summer, Ontario Energy Board says

Electricity rates in Ontario are among the highest of any jurisdiction in North America, despite the fact that we produce even more energy than we use. In fact, Ontario Hydro pays private producers to not produce/add energy into the grid! And it dumps “excess” to other jurisdictions like Michigan for a fraction of the cost that we pay (one article suggests that it may be as high as 20% “dumped”).

The Toronto Sun interviewed the major Ontario political parties about this subject: Higher electricity rates kick in for Ontario

“Progressive Conservative energy critic John Yakabuski said the current on-peak charge of 18 cents per kWh is a 418% increase of the price when the Liberals first took office in 2003.”

Just imagine how privatizing the system is going to help our rates…

And here’s an Open Letter by Parker Gallant, the former banker who several years ago launched FP Comment’s prophetic Ontario’s Power Trip campaign: Ontario’s Power Trip

You should also see if you’re eligible for the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP) and the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). Minimum eligibility appears to be income of less than $28,000 for a household of 1 person, but somewhat higher incomes are eligible depending on the number of people in the household.

 

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