Tag Archives: electricity costs Ontario

Electricity bills going up again!

17 Thursday Oct 2013

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The Ontario Energy Board has announced another rate hike, effective November 1st. Here from energy economist Robert Lyman, is a view of what is going on (madness!).

In 2002, the residential electricity rate in Ontario was 4.3 cents per kWh. There was only one tier that applied at all times and levels of residential use. This is the rate for the power alone, and does not include the charges for transmission, distribution, regulatory charges, debt retirement and taxes.

In 2004, the two-tier system was introduced. The lower-tier rate was 4.7 cents per kWh and the upper-tier rate was 5.8 cents per kWh.

By 2011, the lower-tier rate had increased to 6.8 cents per kWh and the upper-tier rate had increased to 7.9 cents per kWh.

In 2011 and 2012, Ontario introduced time-of-use (TOU) rates based upon the use of “smart” meters. The rates were set at 6.3 cents per kWh for the off-peak and 11.8 cents per kWh for the peak periods.

Today (October 17, 2013), the Ontario Energy Board authorized an off-peak rate increase to 7.2 cents and a peak period rate increase to 12.9 cents, effective November 1, 2013.

Since 2002, therefore, off-peak rates have increased by 67%, and peak period rates have increased by 200%. Transmission and distribution costs have increased as well, of course, but not as much in percentage terms. The addition of the HST has added about $1.2 billion to ratepayers’ bills every year.

There are many conflicting projections as to where rates will go in future. The province projected in 2010 that rates would rise by about 50% by 2015. Parker Gallant, the well-known critic of provincial electricity policies, has estimated that costs could rise by $7.3 billion per year by 2016, or almost 100%.

Incidentally, Ontario consumes about the same amount of electrical energy today as it did in 2004.

This is the Liberal legacy.

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Polls: what fun they are

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Uncategorized, Wind power

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Oraclepoll Research Limited has just released the “Ontario Omnibus Survey” 2013 (well, it says 2012, but the survey was done this past January) which was commissioned by the wind power developer lobby organization, CanWEA or the Canadian Wind Energy Association. The company surveyed 1,000 people by telephone—that figure represents one out of 9,000 electors in Ontario.

Last year’s survey entertained very different questions and statements, including “Wind energy is one of the safest forms of electricity generation compared to other sources (nuclear and coal).” Agree, neither agree nor disagree, or Disagree. The response was that 78% agreed! 79% in Toronto!

This year’s statement–what the company reported on, anyway–was “Ontario should continue to strive to be a Canadian leader in wind and solar energy [sic]* production.” Agree, neither agree nor disagree or Disagree.

69% agreed!!! 76% in Toronto!!Where there will never be a wind turbine or wind power plant!

Oraclepoll also asked people to rank their preference in power generation: solar, wind, natural gas, hydro, or nuclear. Solar came out on top followed by wind. Now, we know this is no choice at all because when you choose wind as your source of power, you are actually choosing gas, because intermittent wind power needs back-up from something during peak periods of demand…and right now, that’s gas.

We are reminded of an episode of Yes Prime Minister which takes a look at how polls are crafted; the word choice in questions or statements is critical to the outcome of the polls. You may wish to take a short two-minute humour break and view the video, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA

With that in mind, here are the statements we’d like to have seen:

Are you concerned about rising power bills in Ontario?

Are you concerned about the effects on small and medium business of higher electricity bills?

Are you worried about the potential for job losses as small and medium business cope with higher power bills?

Are you concerned about higher food prices as a result of higher power costs to local farmers?

Are you concerned about the subsidies given to wind power developers which can be as much as $500,000 per wind turbine, per year?

Are you aware of the health problems being reported in Ontario due to exposure to noise and vibration from wind turbines?

Are you aware of the damage to the environment from large-scale wind turbines, including the killing of birds and other wildlife?

Do you think Ontario should approve hundreds more large-scale wind power generation facilities?

Think the poll might have come out differently with those introductory questions?

Here is a link to the latest CanWEA-sponsored poll.

http://www.canwea.ca/pdf/Canwea-Ontario-Omnibus-Report_Feb2013_Q2_and_Q3.pdf

*Energy is what is used to produce power.

Dalton McGuinty’s legacy: highest electricity bills in North America

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Health, Ottawa, Renewable energy, Wind power

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Here, from Parker Gallant, a comment on what Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal government has done to Ontario. We have spent billions on new “renewable” power sources, without actually adding any generation capacity. How does that make any sense?

But here’s the kick: by the end of 2016, Ontario consumers will be paying $2,055 a year MORE for power because of the McGuinty government’s policies.

Read the article, originally published in the January 18 Financial Post, here:

http://www.freewco.blogspot.ca/2013/01/ontarios-power-trip-mcguintys-legacy.html

Ottawa’s own Robert Lyman has already had a comment:

I was glad to see the article that Parker Gallant published in the National Post. For the first time that I have seen, it draws together the costs of the decisions taken by the McGuinty government in the electricity field since it came into office. The results are striking.
The “bottom line” is that the costs to the average Ontario homeowner, which have doubled since 2004, will double again by 2016. Over the next four years, the additional costs per ratepayer/taxpayer will be about $2,050. The cost of wind turbines is only one part of that cost, but it alone will add $2.5 billion per year to the costs of the electrical system. All of this, on a net basis, has not added one bit to Ontario’s generation capacity, as the province has essentially shut down the inexpensive coal plants and replaced them with the super-expensive wind and solar plants and the “smart meters”.
This analysis, never before assembled (to my knowledge), provides a powerful case against the electricity policies of the current Ontario government.
Of course, this just deals with the costs to consumers and small- and medium-sized business; never mind the dropping property values in rural communities invaded by wind power companies, the reduced appeal of Ontario tourist destinations and–most horrific of all–the damage to the health of some Ontario citizens forced to live near these power projects.
Email us at ottawawindconcerns@yahoo.ca and follow us on Twitter at northgowerwind.
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