McGuinty has to go

[Hicksey]

Am I the only one?

My usage went down 5% over the previous billing period and it cost me $50 more for hydro on this bill. This is getting ridiculous. If there's one thing an obstructionist government should do its shield the poorer families from significant energy costs.

[Renegade]

Am I the only one?

My usage went down 5% over the previous billing period and it cost me $50 more for hydro on this bill. This is getting ridiculous. If there's one thing an obstructionist government should do its shield the poorer families from significant energy costs.

Why? Shouldn't you be expected to bear the full cost of the energy you consume. If you can't afford it, conserve.

[geoffrey]

He is conserving... I think he's more concerned with price stability?

In Alberta, our power prices were pretty stable last month, bill went down, consumption went down.

Hicksey, do you heat your home with gas or electricity (you Ontario people calling it Hydro are funny)? If nat. gas is available, its definitely a cheaper and more efficent way of heating over the long term. Something to consider. It costs us about $100/month to heat the house, but thats averaged in equal payments over the 12 months, so if it turns out less, we get a nice cheque at the end of the year, and it normally turns out less.

You might want to check over that bill. A 5% decrease and a $50 increase? That's almost unbelievable.

Most private companies offer contracts where you can fix your price, so hedge your personal risk, over some long-term situation. It would protect you from price flucuations.

But does Ontario have private power delivery? I do not know.

I think people should have to bear the full cost of energy. But we should be able to buy our energy, whether in gas or power or heating oil, in a competitive marketplace. We do in Alberta, and even though half the province complains about it, we do pay less then everyone else and our increases over the last 5 years have been significantly lower than everyone else.

Commercialisation and deregulation were great things for Alberta, you should encourage your government to adapt similar measures, if they haven't done so already.

[Hicksey]

He is conserving... I think he's more concerned with price stability?

In Alberta, our power prices were pretty stable last month, bill went down, consumption went down.

Hicksey, do you heat your home with gas or electricity (you Ontario people calling it Hydro are funny)? If nat. gas is available, its definitely a cheaper and more efficent way of heating over the long term. Something to consider. It costs us about $100/month to heat the house, but thats averaged in equal payments over the 12 months, so if it turns out less, we get a nice cheque at the end of the year, and it normally turns out less.

You might want to check over that bill. A 5% decrease and a $50 increase? That's almost unbelievable.

Most private companies offer contracts where you can fix your price, so hedge your personal risk, over some long-term situation. It would protect you from price flucuations.

But does Ontario have private power delivery? I do not know.

I think people should have to bear the full cost of energy. But we should be able to buy our energy, whether in gas or power or heating oil, in a competitive marketplace. We do in Alberta, and even though half the province complains about it, we do pay less then everyone else and our increases over the last 5 years have been significantly lower than everyone else.

Commercialisation and deregulation were great things for Alberta, you should encourage your government to adapt similar measures, if they haven't done so already.

I heat with natural gas.

I compared my total kilowatt usage this billing period to last billing period and got a 5% decrease. And the hydro portion of my bill was $50 dollars higher. That translates to a $25 per month increase. At my income level I cannot afford increases of any sort.

That's not to mention of the water charges on my bill. The water usage stayed the same (0.5% increase) but my bill went up $20 over last period.

If the Liberals really gave a crap about the poor and lower middle class this would not be happening. Necessities should be regulated and kept affordable. Thats about one of the few forms of government intervention you'll hear me support.

[Hicksey]

Am I the only one?

My usage went down 5% over the previous billing period and it cost me $50 more for hydro on this bill. This is getting ridiculous. If there's one thing an obstructionist government should do its shield the poorer families from significant energy costs.

Why? Shouldn't you be expected to bear the full cost of the energy you consume. If you can't afford it, conserve.

Why do people always assume people that complain like me aren't conserving?

My electricity usage has gone down 20 percent from this time last year thanks to replacing my appliances with the most efficient ones I cold afford. I moved to a new apartment with a 4 year old high efficiency hot water heater, furnace and air conditioner. Every light in my home is a florescent bulb. I AM CONSERVING. I can't afford not to.

There is not a light on in my house right now. My furnace is off. This computer is the only thing on.

[Renegade]

Why do people always assume people that complain like me aren't conserving?

My electricity usage has gone down 20 percent from this time last year thanks to replacing my appliances with the most efficient ones I cold afford. I moved to a new apartment with a 4 year old high efficiency hot water heater, furnace and air conditioner. Every light in my home is a florescent bulb. I AM CONSERVING. I can't afford not to.

There is not a light on in my house right now. My furnace is off. This computer is the only thing on.

I'm not assuming that you don't conserve. Everyone conserves to a certain point. The point I was trying to make is that you should be on the hook for the electricity you consume, not anyone else. It's got nothing to do with if you are poor or middle class or rich. Electricty prices in canada are far less than many places and those lower prices actually promote overconsumption.

Also I did a comparison of your numbers to mine and yours seem out of wack. My electricity consumption for all of 2005 was $673.30 (or $56.11/month on average). I've only got one bill for 2006 so far (end of Feb) for $70.68. I also got a rebate of $11.07 for overpayment of electricity from last year.

This is for an entier house and I didn't spend a lot of energy (I mean mine) trying to conserve.

A couple of comments,

1. It is difficult to make a comparison based upon a short period like 3 months, esp when bills are issued bi-monthly. Also because electricity usage patterns are the most in summer, comparing winter periods does not show the whole story.

2. I don't think 60$ or 70$ a month is an unreasonable cost for anyone to pay for electricity given it is pretty much essential. I would guess the amounts spent for non-essentials are far more.

[geoffrey]

Am I the only one?

My usage went down 5% over the previous billing period and it cost me $50 more for hydro on this bill. This is getting ridiculous. If there's one thing an obstructionist government should do its shield the poorer families from significant energy costs.

Why? Shouldn't you be expected to bear the full cost of the energy you consume. If you can't afford it, conserve.

Why do people always assume people that complain like me aren't conserving?

My electricity usage has gone down 20 percent from this time last year thanks to replacing my appliances with the most efficient ones I cold afford. I moved to a new apartment with a 4 year old high efficiency hot water heater, furnace and air conditioner. Every light in my home is a florescent bulb. I AM CONSERVING. I can't afford not to.

There is not a light on in my house right now. My furnace is off. This computer is the only thing on.

I struggle to think of a market solution to this, but I also don't really understand the Ontario utilities system so I can't come up with an example.

Do you have nat. gas. for water heating too? This is a place to save some money. There are blankets for hot water heaters, save you a few bucks a month there.

--

Ok, I went and found the power, gas and water bill for us here. We are six people living in a 2,000 sq.ft. home for comparisons sakes. We heat our house and our water with nat. gas, and Enmax is our service provider for electricity, water is provided City of Calgary and Direct Energy provides us our Nat. Gas.

Electricity:

Electric Energy Charge: 997 kWh $0.05597 /kWh = $55.80

Other Admin Charges add up to a total bill of $100.60

Water

Basic Service Charge: $11.29

Meter Water Charge: 32 m3 @ $1.0193/m3 = $32.62

Total water bill adds to $43.91

Sanitary and Storm Sewer

Basic Charge $8.33

Sewer Charge: 32 m3 @ $0.5904/m3 = $18.89

Drainage Charge: $5.62

Total Sewer Bill adds to $32.84

Natural Gas

Cost of Gas: $5.09/GJ x 7.10 GJ = $36.14

Distribution: $30.61

Admin: $5.29

Total Gas Bill: $72.04

So our total utilities are around $250.00. That's about average for us.

--

Now Hicksey, it would take a double in consumption or cost of power for our family of six in a mid-sized home to increase our bill $50. Are you sure your not being ripped off?

Our family of six would need to nearly increase by 50% for a $20 water increase.

I'd be checking your metres yourself and comparing to others in your area. Something doesn't seem right about that.

[kilkee]

How do our rates compare with those in Quebec?