Enough is Enough - Hydro One protest in Perth

May 07, 2015

Janet Brooks of Ompah was one of over 60 protesters who attended the Enough is Enough Hydro One protest, which took place outside of the Hydro One offices in Perth on May 2. The event attracted local and area residents fed up with the high cost of their bills.

Brooks described her financial situation as desperate, and says she has had to put the home she bought seven years ago up for sale. Presently her outstanding Hydro One bill is $4,000. “My second mortgage people are repossessing my home and I have nowhere to go,” she said in tears. Brooks, who is a single mother, said that unfortunately her situation is not unique. “I know of others in the Ompah area who are experiencing the same kind of situation and I know of 10 other home owners in the area who are going to have to walk away from their homes.”

She approached drivers stopped at the corner of Highway 7 and Drummond St., asking them to sign a petition that will be presented in the Legislative Assembly at Queens Park on May 13 the same day that a large Enough is Enough Protest will be taking place there. “As a kid I used to be afraid of the dark, Brooks said, “ and now because of Hydro One I am scared of the light because I cannot afford it.”

The Saturday protest in Perth was organized by Jeanette Kosnaski of Barry's Bay and Jenny Gates, both administrators of the Enough is Enough Hydro One group, which to date has over 21,000 members. Kosnaski said that the group is fighting Hydro One's delivery charges for rural Ontarians, as well as the HST charge, the debt retirement charge and smart meters. The petition that the group was passing around at the demonstration demands “The removal of all hidden charges that make up the delivery charge, and its replacement with one standard charge for all Ontarians." The petition also demands the immediate replacement of smart meters by analog meters.

Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, spoke at the protest and blamed Hydro One's inflated regulatory and delivery charges on mismanagement and exorbitant wages. He said that the Green Energy Act is also to blame because FIT contracts “compel Hydro One to purchase renewable energy at inflated over market rates”.

He listed a number of solutions that he believes would fix the problems. These included auditing the MDMR (Meter Data Management Repository) and either scrapping or altering it; trimming wages to employees at Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One; canceling the Green Energy Act; stopping all new FIT contracts and imposing a tax on the excess profits of FIT developers, with the proceeds reimbursing Hydro One customers. Hillier said that he welcomes “an end to the Hydro One monopoly to allow for competition in a free market place”.

Tracy Stewart-Simmons of Carp also spoke at the event. Kosnaski encouraged those present to join the Enough is Enough Hydro One group and invited all present to attend a larger protest that will take place at Queens Park in Toronto on May 13 from noon until 3pm. The group is arranging bus transportation for out-of-towners, and speakers at the event will include MPP Randy Hillier, Steve Clark, Parker Gallant, Cindy Moyer and others yet to be confirmed. Kosnaski hopes to see many bodies in Toronto on May 13. “We need to get out there and make the Ontario government know that this is no longer acceptable.” For more information visit Enough is Enough Hydro One on Facebook.