BY ROBERT JANES
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said the provincial government would like to see a decrease of approximately 10 megatonnes in the electricity sector’s gas emissions by 2020. However, this same government recently scrapped a plan to provide $3.8 billion for renewable energy sources.
“It’s a step backwards,” said Bryan Flannery, a Conestoga second-year radio broadcast student. “Renewable energy needs to be at the forefront and have our country’s attention. Canada and specifically Ontario need to be part of the green initiative and take some responsibility in furthering our economy and province in the right direction. They need to stop sidestepping the issues and deal with them head on.”
Scrapping the climate change action plan, which was announced June 8, will save Ontarians approximately $2.45 from being added to their hydro bills each month.
“I’ve been tasked to find ways to bring bills down,” Energy Minister Glen Thibeault said in a Sept. 27 Toronto Star article. “When our experts said we didn’t need it, that’s when I acted.”
An Ontario residential electricity bill with Hydro One is averaging around $240 per 1000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) yet the province has been producing excess power.
Kesseta Black, a first-year broadcast journalism student said, “We have to push the government to subsidize it (hydro) because if we actually have it to the point where we are exporting it and selling it, then we should find a way for our people to better afford it. The reason we are paying these high prices is because we have not went out there and started to yell and started to protest and do crazy things to make them get up out of their chairs and stop us. But if we just sit back and keep paying the bills, they’ll keep charging us the money.”
While every hydro company has a basic monthly charge, energy charge per kWh and one or two other service charges depending on the company, Hydro One ups their bills with a basic monthly charge, energy charge, line loss charge, regulatory charge and delivery charge. This last charge is made up of five smaller charges that total $82.66 per month, just a few dollars cheaper than the entire cost of 1000 kWh of Hydro Quebec’s electricity.
All of Hydro One’s charges combined result in the price being nearly twice that of any other province.
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