There’s no shortage of reaction from Niagara residents to the news their hydro bills are beginning to skyrocket.
the famous Niagara falls may be a pubic asset, but the energy it could theoretically produce belongs to the local monopoly
More than 60 comments came flooding in to the QMI Agency Niagara’s Facebook page about the Liberal government’s new long-term energy plan showing the average Ontario monthly residential bill of $125 will rise to $178 within five years — a 42% increase.
“I am a mother of three, own our own home, working a full-time job and another job on midnights just to be able to pay this crap,” wrote Alicia Harris-Biamonte.
“What is it going to be like for our children? They need to get off their high horses and stop making people pay for their mistakes. We work to pay that’s it.”
With four people living at home, Niagara Falls resident Christine Clark-Hess said it’s becoming increasingly difficult for homeowners to pay the bills. It’s also getting harder to run an “honest and legitimate” business in Ontario, she said.
“Just another reason for more businesses to pack up and leave the Niagara area,” wrote Clark-Hess.
“Too expensive to run a business in this province, let alone live in it. I’m sure it won’t be long before people start packing up and leaving too. How is (it) that we, the taxpayers, are always the ones to pay for the government’s mistakes?”
Niagara Peninsula Energy president Brian Wilkie said the plan reflects the government’s view of how it sees the supply mix going forward in terms of where electricity will come from.
He said going green — shifting from coal and nuclear to solar and wind — costs more money, but it’s a direction in which the government wants to go.
“The price is driven by the supply shift from the less expensive, dirty technology to the more expensive, clean technology,” said Wilkie.
“Fifty-nine per cent of every kilowatt hour that’s used in the province comes from electricity generated by nuclear. That’s expected to go down to 42% by 2025.”
St. Catharines resident Lorie Lampman wrote she’s “so ticked off because it doesn’t matter how much we conserve on anything, the rates keep going up and up.”
“The companies have figured they are losing so much money that they have to increase until we are all increased out. If I could afford to outfit my home so I could live off the grid I would. Then they wouldn’t get anything.
“I’m not turning on lights anymore. I’ve got a senior citizen living with me and I leave a few night lights so he can find his way to the bathroom. I even almost want to turn those off, but I can’t,” she said.
Lampman said it’s not just hydro costs.
“I quit watering my lawn because of all the water rates.”
Welland’s Shawn Bines wrote Ontarians should protest in “unprecedented numbers.”
“We need to bring this province to a standstill in order to put a stop to this, but we must be united.”
ray.spiteri@sunmedia.ca Twitter: @RaySpiteri
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PROJECTED MONTHLY POWER BILLS
2013: $125 2014: $137 2015: $145 2016: $167 2017: $170 2020: $181 2025: $194 2030: $205
— Source: Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan 2013
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3 Responses
This is just another way to raise taxes – this is the same liberal government that tried to shutter all our coal plants
For the price they invest in this the infrastructure and all the repairs and maintenance I am wondering how many off-grid homes they could set up and reduce the power needed for the rest?
consumers are yet again being ripped off..
people are losing their homes and marriages because they can’t afford utilities anymore, seniors and many others are on fixed incomes..trying to conserve water and electricity, only to raise the rates ridiculously high. No wonder people are moving out of this country to retire! we need a mass protest…SPEAK UP!