Hydro One

Bob Webster | May 11, 2016

I compared my March 2016 Hydro One bill to the one I received for the same period last year. The total consumption of power was only slightly different from the previous year and the distribution over the time of use periods was identical. Adjusting for the slight change in total consumption, our aggregate bill from Hydro One was 28% higher than the previous year. That of course was an all-in figure - it included the rate increases in the year, the departure of the debt repayment charge and the disappearance of the “Green Energy Rebate”.

Interestingly, the bill continues to remind me how much I have saved relating to the end of the debt repayment charge, but it doesn’t remind me at all of how much more I am paying because of the withdrawal of the “Green Energy Rebate”. Which I guess continues to show that the current Ontario government believes that Ontario residents have short memories and an innate inability to figure out what is going on.

A handy recap of the twice annual increases in hydro rates in Ontario ( http://www.ontario-hydro.com/historical-rpp-rates) indicates that those rates have more than doubled in the last 7 years. Of course, given that we all spend part of the year enduring winter, this increase is likely to disproportionately impact those who heat their homes with electricity - often families that are rural, elderly or economically challenged.

Starting May 1 rates for electricity will increase yet again. The stated reason for the increase from the Ontario Energy Board press release was -

“Ontarians consumed less electricity than expected over the recent milder winter. As a result of lower usage, Regulated Price Plan (RPP) prices did not recover the full cost of serving RPP customers. One of the main reasons prices are increasing in May is to recover this shortfall.”

So, now that we have all taken steps to upgrade or replace our homes to achieve a reduction in consumption, we are told that reducing consumption will result in increases in electricity rates. How exactly does that work as an incentive to conserve? Or is this just another means of making Hydro One look more attractive to private investors so that the government can continue to sell off bits of it to generate cash to be spent on more doubtlessly brilliant schemes?

I have a novel idea - why doesn’t the government of Ontario focus more on running the province for the betterment of Ontario residents and focus less on what the next great legacy opportunity might be. I don’t think the legacy thing worked that well for the last Premier.