At this rate, it will be a neck-and-neck race as to which industry gets worse reviews: Ontario’s electricity providers or telemarketers, although Torontonians have fewer options to deal with the former than they do with the latter. The Ontario Energy Board just made a decision that will allow local electrical utilities to charge consumers more in order to cover an expensive case they lost in the Supreme Court of Canada. The energy providers can now boost the interest rates on late bill payments by up to 60 per cent in order to get $18 million from consumers.
According to the Toronto Star:
“It’s a scam,” Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak shot at energy minister Brad Duguid in the Legislature’s daily question period, saying the Liberals have turned the energy board into “another McGuinty tax collection agency…Why is it when Ontario families even win in the courts you still make them pay the price of illegal activity?”
The typical residential customer will see an extra 20 to 30 cents a month on their electricity bills for two years.
So, to catch up: 1) Utility overcharges customers. 2) Because they say it would be impossible to refund customers directly, they instead pay into a fund for low-income consumers. (Next time we’re late on a credit card bill we’ll try telling Visa “it’s impossible” to find them.) 3) To make up the revenue they lost because they broke the law, utilities raise prices.
It’s not exactly the story that the Liberal government needs on top of all their other hydro-related headaches. We’re not too sympathetic, though—the government doesn’t get to say “there oughta be a law against that,” no matter how drunk they try to get the electorate.
• Opposition parties calls Ontario Energy Board ruling a ‘scam’ [Toronto Star]
• Hydro rate hike approved to cover fines, court costs [CP24]
The electricity problem started with the Conservatives — not that anyone will remember that — and worsened under the Liberals. Politicians of any stripe make for bad leaders and worse managers, and everything about electricity is now 100 per cent political. The economics of an ageing grid and growing demand in a province where the traditional economic underpinnings are changing isn’t something to look forward to, certainly not as challenging decisions have to be made. It would be nice to have a vision, proper funding, INCLUDING a contingency for such things as oh, lost legal battles, a plan, good governance, great management and no surprises from oh, applied stupidity. One can only hope.
February 24, 2011 at 4:15 pm | by FrancesThis is clear evidence of who runs the province and it isn’t government. I’d truly like to see the rate hike be called: “Screw you for trying to screw us fee”.
February 24, 2011 at 5:16 pm | by SheilaIf we consumers are now to bear the burden of paying the court-ordered fine of $17.7 Million as punishment for benefiting from years of Hydro’s illegally high Late Payment Fees I suppose that makes us all loan sharks.
I’m turning myself into police right after dinner.
February 24, 2011 at 8:51 pm | by Fetechefthis is disgusting the way that ontario hydro is using its costumers to pay for their misgivings,, its just criminal ,
September 15, 2011 at 8:40 pm | by daveive cut my home hydro down, no hot water heater, no fridge,,
im going to heat with wood next year , plus putting solar
panels on my roof . then im going to imform ontario hydro that im going to shut off my hydro at the electricity box,
if more people were to do this , then it might make them wake up a bit , if thats at all possible
Epic socialism fail.
December 8, 2011 at 2:13 am | by Sunshine list