hydro – Page 2 – mackaycartoons

Friday February 24, 2017

February 23, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday February 24, 2017

Behind on your hydro bill? Don’t fear being disconnected in the winter

Electricity consumers behind on their bills need no longer fear being disconnected in the winter now that the Ontario government has banned utilities from pulling the plug on them.

“I’m hoping to have all of this done by the end of this week,” Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault told reporters after all three parties supported the passage of the Protecting Vulnerable Energy Consumers Act.

The bill got royal assent later in the day and gives the Ontario Energy Board power to order utilities to stop disconnections during cold weather months through changes to their licences, which could take until Monday.

Most utilities had already agreed to voluntarily end winter disconnects, but Thibeault said some could not do so in time for a midnight Tuesday deadline, prompting the new law.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said he was pleased the legislation passed, but added the government should have put the ban in place before winter.

“Unfortunately, this comes after far too many families and seniors were forced to suffer in the cold without power because the Wynne Liberals dragged their feet and played political games.”

Both the Conservatives and NDP said the government erred by putting the winter disconnection ban into a larger piece of omnibus legislation, the Burden Reduction Act, introduced last June.

The PCs supported it, but the New Democrats did not, citing objections to provisions on the sale of Ontario Place and weaker workplace protections in it.

That it took until late February to pass a winter disconnection bill shows the Liberals are “out of touch,” Brown charged.

The energy board does not have statistics on how many customers were disconnected from hydro for non-payment so far this winter.

Under the new legislation, which does not contain dates, the energy board will work with local utilities on a definition of winter, which technically ends Mar. 21, the first day of spring, Thibeault noted.

The bill does not contain any deadlines for reconnecting customers who were cut off. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she hopes utilities will abide by “the spirit” of the legislation. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday January 25, 2017

January 24, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 25, 2017

Why Kathleen Wynne might tackle hydro delivery charges to cut electricity bills

Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling she may soon try to tackle the sky-high delivery charges that many Ontarians see on their hydro bills.

With her government bogged down by complaints about soaring electricity prices, Wynne and her advisers are scrambling to find ways to bring bills down.

Wynne telegraphed that delivery charges are in her sights during a speech last week, mentioning a letter she received from an Ottawa Valley man she named only as Lloyd,

“He wrote to me about delivery charges that make up 50 per cent of his bill,” Wynne told a business audience in downtown Toronto. She said Lloyd recently installed energy-efficient windows, and “feels like he’s being punished for the investments that he made.”

Wynne is phoning some of the people who write to her about electricity, including Lloyd.

“He has every right to be angry; that shouldn’t be happening,” she said. “At the end of the day, what people like Lloyd should be paying for is the electricity that they use.”

On average, the delivery charge makes up nearly 30 per cent of a typical residential hydro bill, but the amount varies widely from place to place. Different local hydro distribution companies charge different rates, unlike the cost of electricity generation, which is standard for all residential hydro customers in the province.

A typical Hydro One customer in a medium-density area pays nearly $68 a month for delivery — more than double the delivery charge for a Thunder Bay Hydro customer. The difference adds up to $409 a year.

Questioned by reporters after her speech, Wynne affirmed that delivery charges are on her radar.

“The delivery charge is something that comes up repeatedly,” she said. “I am hearing it consistently as I talk to people across the province.” (Source: CBC) http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-hydro-delivery-charge-1.3948106

Maeanwhile, the Premier posted an open letter on Facebook Sunday attacking television personality Kevin O’Leary for erroneously claiming Ontario attracts lower auto investment than Michigan. (Source: Toronto Star)

Tuesday January 17, 2017

January 16, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 17, 2017

Wynne gets cold shoulder from Trudeau on hydro costs

Feeling more heat over hydro bills — and a cold shoulder on the touchy topic from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — Premier Kathleen Wynne acknowledged her government has to do a better job curbing electricity costs.

October 29, 2015

Wynne was greeted Friday by protesters outside a luncheon speech in Oakville shortly after Trudeau was put on the defensive over hydro prices at a campaign-style stop in Peterborough.

“It is not enough,” the premier said of her Liberal government’s move to waive the 8 per cent provincial portion of the HST on electricity bills starting this month. ‎

While Wynne was taking responsibility for hydro rates that have skyrocketed in recent years and left many homeowners and businesses struggling, Trudeau, under fire for a Caribbean Christmas vacation on a “listening tour” of the country, made it clear electricity prices are Wynne’s cross to bear.

November 22, 2016

At a Peterborough town hall meeting, a weeping woman brandished her hydro bill for the prime minister, saying she earns “almost $50,000 a year and I am living in energy poverty.”

Trudeau, who has frequently campaigned with Wynne in a mutual support pact, praised the woman for speaking out publicly and tried to alleviate her concerns about the impact of looming carbon pricing on energy rates while insisting that “hydro bills are provincial.”

Speaking with reporters after that emotional encounter, the prime minister tried to dodge questions about Wynne’s electricity policies.

“As a Quebec-elected MP I have been trained to be very, very careful about weighing in on provincial areas of jurisdiction. It’s something that is important for positive working relationships with all provinces and I respect provincial rights and responsibilities to make determinations in their areas of jurisdiction,” said Trudeau.

Wynne took credit for the Liberal government’s upgrading of the electricity system since taking power in 2003 so “there are no more blackouts … no more smog days,” but admitted “the cost of the changes has burdened people.”

She told 440 people at an Oakville and Burlington Chamber of Commerce chicken lunch about a father of three who wrote to her at Christmas to say he had to scale back on presents for his kids. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Cartoon demeaned women and PM

Letter to the Editor, Hamilton Spectator, January 24, 2017 RE: Jan. 17 editorial cartoon

I feel Mr. MacKay crossed a line in his attempt at humour in this cartoon. His depiction of the prime minister rescuing the distraught woman during his cross country tour a lack of respect for this woman’s concern about her hydro bill and was demeaning both to her and Mr. Trudeau. Women do not need to be rescued by men nor do we deserve to be shown as weak and in need of this form of support from men.

Barb Howe, Hamilton

Thursday December 15, 2016

December 14, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 15, 2016

“I failed my kids”: An Ontario mom’s story on soaring hydro

When Cambridge mother Adele Benoit sees an electricity bill in her mailbox it is a reminder of the constant sacrifices her family must make.

November 22, 2016

Fearing the worst, she will often open the envelope slowly, unfold the bill and hold her breath.

“Then you see the amount due on the bill,” she said.

That statement’s final tally has been skyrocketing steadily, she explained, rising to amounts of more than $600 every two months. Not so long ago her hydro bills were half that amount.

It’s a tough haul for a mother of three boys, aged 16, nine and seven, who takes care of her family in a modest Cambridge Housing Authority affordable unit.

With little choice but to pay that bill, Benoit is forced to ask her children to accept less than she knows they deserve. At this time of year that means fewer Christmas gifts and even limiting the time the family’s tree is lit.

“Our Christmas tree gets lit up for an hour and a half or two hours, and then I shut it off.”

Though she is employed, her paycheques are no match against rising household costs like electricity. She has even borrowed money to buy winter coats and hats for her sons. The struggle is not an easy one to share.

“It makes me feel like I failed my kids,” she said.

Though in tears at times when describing her family’s financial troubles, Benoit shared her story with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath while sitting together at her kitchen table Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 13).

Horwath is on a tour meeting with residents about the rising costs of electricity as part of a bid to force the provincial Liberal government to make hydro more affordable and to “humanize” public policy around energy.

Horwath is also aiming to generate more support to block Premier Kathleen Wynne and the government from further privatizing Hydro One.

Using Quebec and Manitoba as examples, Horwath said other provinces are keeping energy rates down and are not privatizing, ensuring their electricity systems are about people, not profit.

In Ontario, she said, it’s private companies that are reaping the benefits. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Tuesday November 22, 2016

November 21, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 22, 2016

Wynne calls high electricity prices her ‘mistake’

Premier Kathleen Wynne is calling high electricity prices her “mistake,” sounding a note of contrition on one of the major issues threatening the Liberals’ re-election bid in 2018.

Amid the usual rallying of the troops at the Ontario Liberals’ annual general meeting Saturday, Wynne addressed her poor popularity numbers, which she called the “elephant in the room.”

“I think that people look at me and many of them think, ‘She’s not who we thought she was. She’s become a typical politician. She’ll do anything to win,'” Wynne said.

“Frankly, I may have and I think I sometimes have given them reason to think that.”

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Wynne said part of convincing Ontarians that she wants to do what is in their best interests is admitting when she has made a mistake.

“People have told me that they’ve had to choose between paying the electricity bill and buying food or paying rent,” Wynne said.

“That is unacceptable to me. It is unacceptable that people in Ontario are facing that choice. Our government made a mistake. It was my mistake.”

An eight-per-cent rebate on electricity bills comes into effect Jan. 1, but Wynne said she will find more ways to lower rates and reduce the burden on consumers.

After her speech, Wynne wouldn’t point to any specific decision on the electricity file that she deems a mistake, but said her focus was on the big issues facing the system and she hasn’t always paid enough attention to how costs were accumulating on people’s bills. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)