ratepayers

Wednesday January 25, 2017

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) 

 

Friday December 4, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday December 4, 2015 Hydro One customers getting zapped: auditor Ontario electricity consumers are being zapped by unnecessarily high green energy costs that could be worth billions of dollars and lousy service from Hydro One, which is currently being privatized, says auditor general Bonnie Lysyk. In 14 value-for-money audits for her 773-page annual report delivered Wednesday at Queen's Park, Lysyk took aim at the electricity sector on the eve of Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli's announcement on next steps for the province's aging nuclear reactors. She also highlighted problems with everything from Ontario's 47 children's aid societies Ñ including questionable executive expenses Ñ community care access centres, and school buses to the bungled SAMS social assistance computer system and the lack of a plan for dealing with contaminated waste. But much of her scorn was reserved for the energy ministry, which is overseeing the sell-off of Hydro One, the provincial electricity transmitter. "Hydro One's customers have a power system for which reliability appears to be worsening while costs are increasing," said Lysyk, echoing Ed Clark, Premier Kathleen Wynne's privatization czar, who has argued Hydro One can and should be much more professionally run. "Customers are experiencing more frequent power outages, mostly because assets aren't being fully maintained, aging equipment isn't being consistently replaced and trees near power lines aren't being trimmed often enough to prevent outages," she said, lamenting that this will be her final audit of the company since it will no longer fall under her purview once it is private. At the same time, Ontario's controversial push to promote wind and solar energy is proving more costly than it needs to be, and energy conservation is proving unnecessarily expensive because the province has a surplus of electricity. Lysyk estimated consumers could end up paying $9

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 4, 2015

Hydro One customers getting zapped: auditor

Monday June 24, 2013Ontario electricity consumers are being zapped by unnecessarily high green energy costs that could be worth billions of dollars and lousy service from Hydro One, which is currently being privatized, says auditor general Bonnie Lysyk.

In 14 value-for-money audits for her 773-page annual report delivered Wednesday at Queen’s Park, Lysyk took aim at the electricity sector on the eve of Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli’s announcement on next steps for the province’s aging nuclear reactors.

She also highlighted problems with everything from Ontario’s 47 children’s aid societies — including questionable executive expenses — community care access centres, and school buses to the bungled SAMS social assistance computer system and the lack of a plan for dealing with contaminated waste.

Thursday December 11, 2014But much of her scorn was reserved for the energy ministry, which is overseeing the sell-off of Hydro One, the provincial electricity transmitter.

“Hydro One’s customers have a power system for which reliability appears to be worsening while costs are increasing,” said Lysyk, echoing Ed Clark, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s privatization czar, who has argued Hydro One can and should be much more professionally run.

“Customers are experiencing more frequent power outages, mostly because assets aren’t being fully maintained, aging equipment isn’t being consistently replaced and trees near power lines aren’t being trimmed often enough to prevent outages,” she said, lamenting that this will be her final audit of the company since it will no longer fall under her purview once it is private.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday October 31, 2015 ÔItÕs going,Õ Kathleen Wynne says of the looming sale of Hydro One despite watchdog warning ItÕs Òfull steam aheadÓ with the Liberal governmentÕs sell-off of Hydro One despite a damaging report from the budget watchdog warning the sale will hurt the provinceÕs bottom line. Premier Kathleen Wynne said she is sticking to her plan to unload 60 per cent of the utility in order to bankroll transportation infrastructure. ÒItÕs going,Ó Wynne said firmly on Thursday in Niagara-on-the-Lake. As first disclosed by the Star, Stephen LeClair, the new financial accountability officer, warned the province will be in even ÒworseÓ shape after the sale of the Crown utility. In a report to the legislature, LeClair said there is much ÒuncertaintyÓ surrounding the sale of the electricity transmitter. His findings landed the same day the government announced the first tranche of 89 million shares of Hydro One Ñ 15 per cent of the company Ñ will begin being sold next Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange for $20.50 apiece, generating $1.83 billion. ÒWe are pleased to announce that 40 per cent of shares are being reserved for retail investors, so individual Ontarians can participate in the IPO,Ó said Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli. Both the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats are imploring the Liberals not to sell such a valuable public asset. ÒThis government has known all along that the most they could get was limited new money on the fire sale of Hydro One . . . while you lose an asset that brings in $700 million each and every year,Ó said Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath echoed BrownÕs assessment. ÒThis is a terrible deal and it makes no sense whatsoever. Will the premier and her government stop this insane sell-off of Hydro One?Ó she said. LeClair warned the LiberalsÕ move would increase the provincial debt by reducing revenue. ÒIn th

At the same time, Ontario’s controversial push to promote wind and solar energy is proving more costly than it needs to be, and energy conservation is proving unnecessarily expensive because the province has a surplus of electricity.

Lysyk estimated consumers could end up paying $9.2 billion more for renewable energy over 20-year contracts issued under the Green Energy Act with guaranteed prices set at double the U.S. market price for wind and at 3.5 times the going rate for solar last year. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

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