Electricity Pricing

[Greg Moore]

Electricity Pricing

How much did your Hydro bill increase?

My last few hydro bills from Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro have been in the ~$230 range. That is for a two month cycle. My latest bill is $416. God bless the idiots that put us in this position.

I'm lucky I have no issue paying my bills. What do the people who's budgets don't have the flexibility for an 80% increase in hydro costs do?

[garthdanlor]

Not as high as yours. We went up from about $140 to $205 in the most recent bill. We used the central air quite a bit during the past couple of months (but never set lower than 26 or 27 degrees) so that didn't help either. I do support the peak/off-peak pricing, I just hope we see more favourable off-peak pricing in the near future (as has been hinted).

[Shawn]

Have you been converted to TOD (Time of Day) billing? I was at Kitchener Wilmot Hydro in late August to sign up for the PeakSaver (http://everykilowattcounts.ca/residential/peaksaver/index.php) program and pick up my new thermostat. I asked about the pending implementation of TOD billing and was told not to expect it until at least May 2011 since they're not yet finished installing the new smart meters.

My August bill was $61 higher than my June bill but my consumption also increased by 312 kW plus the price per kWh increased from .0580 to .0650 for first 1200 kW and from .0650 to .0750 per kWh for over 1200 kW.

It worked out to about $1 per day more for hydro.

[garthdanlor]

No, we have the meter but not TOD yet...just hope they get the pricing balance right between peak/mid/off by the time we do get TOD.

[neonjoe]

Over last summer there was an increase on my part too, this year the ac ran frequently, last year it barely ran at all. My two month bill this year was 120 compared to 80 last year. The price difference seems to have just been mainly due to consumption. The graphs on your hydro bill are useful to determine your trends ( at least in Kitchener). Also note, I'm on peaksaver, only run ac over night and have no incandescent lighting in my house.

[Rowe]

My dad works for Hydro. It's because you have to pay for your new smart metres.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Liberals may cut Ont. hydro rates
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 | 7:12 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/11/17/ontario-hydro.html


Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan hints there will be some relief for consumers hit hard by soaring electricity bills in Thursday's fall economic update.

[IEFBR14]

The Star has even quantified the amount of the bribe ;) Liberals to cut hydro bills by 10 per cent (http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/891861--liberals-to-cut-hydro-bills-by-10-per-cent?bn=1)
The Liberal government will cut Ontarians’ hydro bills by 10 per cent starting on Jan. 1, the Star has learned.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Ontario Introduces Electricity Cost Relief
McGuinty Government Introduces New Measures to Help Ontario Families and Reduce Debt
November 18, 2010 1:25 PM | http://www.news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2010/11/ontario-introduces-electricity-cost-relief.html

The Ontario government today introduced the Ontario Clean Energy Benefit (OCEB), which would provide a 10 per cent benefit to help consumers manage rising electricity prices for the next five years. The OCEB, which would help more than four million residential consumers and more than 400,000 small businesses, farms and other consumers, would take effect on January 1, 2011.

In order to have a clean, modern and reliable electricity system that includes renewables and creates jobs, the government has made significant investments. While necessary and unavoidable, these investments are increasing electricity costs. Over the next five years, residential electricity prices are expected to rise by 46 per cent, after which price increases are expected to moderate as Ontario will have largely completed the transition to a cleaner, more reliable system.

Ontario is emerging from the global economic recession. By continuing its prudent approach to fiscal management, the government is on track for a deficit of $18.7 billion in 2010-11. This is a $1 billion improvement over the 2010 Budget projection, and is almost 25 per cent lower than the $24.7 billion deficit projected a year ago for 2009-10.

The government has negotiated the principal terms of a proposed agreement to renew its long-standing business partnership with Teranet, by extending Teranet's exclusive licences to provide electronic land registration and writs services in Ontario for an additional 50 years. Under this proposed agreement, Teranet's owner, Borealis Infrastructure, would provide the province with an upfront payment of $1 billion, which would be used to reduce the province's debt.

This debt reduction would decrease Ontario's ongoing borrowing requirements and would save up to $50 million in annual interest costs. When added to the $1 billion reduction in the deficit, this payment means the government is borrowing $2 billion less than forecasted. Beginning in 2017, the province would also receive annual royalty payments from Teranet, which are expected to be approximately $50 million in 2017-18 and to grow in future years.

These measures build on the government's Open Ontario plan to create new jobs, boost economic growth and protect the progress Ontario families have made in their schools and hospitals.

QUICK FACTS

Since May 2009, employment has increased by 2.9 per cent or 186,100 net new jobs. As of October, Ontario has regained 75 per cent of the jobs lost during the global recession.
The 2010-11 revenue outlook, at $107.7 billion, is nearly $800 million more than the 2010 Budget forecast, largely reflecting stronger economic growth in 2010.
Total expense in 2010-11 is currently projected to be $125.6 billion - 0.2 per cent lower than the 2010 Budget forecast, due to a lower interest on debt expense projection. This is consistent with the government's approach to controlling the rate of growth in spending while protecting core public services.
As outlined in the 2010 Budget, the government continues its comprehensive review of all government programs and services. To date, this review has identified more than $260 million in additional potential savings through both programming and administrative expenditure reductions.
In 2010-11, the estimated cost of the proposed OCEB is $300 million, with an estimated full-year cost of $1.1 billion next year. These costs are accommodated within the fiscal plan as a result of the government's prudent approach to managing its finances.

LEARN MORE
Read the 2010 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review. (http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/fallstatement/2010/)
Learn more about how the government is helping families. (http://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2010/11/helping-ontario-families.html)
Read about the government's proposed agreement with Teranet. (http://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2010/11/modernizing-ontarios-electronic-land-registration-system.html)
Read the mid-year update of Ontario's financial results and economic performance. (http://news.ontario.ca/mof/en/2010/11/mid-year-update-of-financial-results-and-economic-performance-for-2010-11.html)
Learn more about Open Ontario. (http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/openOntario/index.php?Lang=EN)


"Ontario is emerging from the global economic recession. Since May 2009, more than 180,000 new jobs have been created, and this year the deficit projection has been slashed by almost 25 per cent. With the changes we've made, nine out of 10 taxpayers are paying less income tax." – Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance


"For a long time, governments of all political stripes have neglected the electricity sector, and that's why we have made the necessary investments to build a cleaner system and to ensure the lights go on and stay on. Ontarians are asking for some assistance with rising costs, especially their electricity costs, and every little bit helps during these lean times." – Dwight Duncan, Minister of Finance

[IEFBR14]

a 10 per cent benefit to help consumers manage rising electricity prices for the next five years... would take effect on January 1, 2011.
Call me cynical, but that "bribe" ends Dec 31, 2016. The next provincial election is in Oct, 2011 and the one after in Oct, 2015. So the "bribe" doesn't end until just after the 2015 election.

Coincidence? ;)

[Urbanomicon]

Call me cynical, but that "bribe" ends Dec 31, 2016. The next provincial election is in Oct, 2011 and the one after in Oct, 2015. So the "bribe" doesn't end until just after the 2015 election.

Coincidence? ;)

I believe they call that politics. :biggrin:

[taylortbb]

Call me cynical, but that "bribe" ends Dec 31, 2016. The next provincial election is in Oct, 2011 and the one after in Oct, 2015. So the "bribe" doesn't end until just after the 2015 election.

Coincidence? ;)

It's removal co-incides with the removal of the debt retirement charge, which is about 7% of my hydro bill. So it seems a reasonable timing to use, they're basically moving up the removal of that charge.

[IEFBR14]

It's removal co-incides with the removal of the debt retirement charge, which is about 7% of my hydro bill. So it seems a reasonable timing to use, they're basically moving up the removal of that charge.
Actually I did my arithmetic incorrectly. The "bribe" starts Jan 1, 2011 and runs for 5 years. So it ends Dec 31, 2015 not 2016. The next, next election will be held in Oct 2015 so there's still the possibility of a coincidence ;)

When does the debt retirement charge end? ;)

P.S. Regardless of when the debt retirement charge ends, does that mean that by that point we've fully repaid all of the stranded Hydro debt?

[taylortbb]

P.S. Regardless of when the debt retirement charge ends, does that mean that by that point we've fully repaid all of the stranded Hydro debt?

I believe that is the case.

No argument it's a bit of a bribe, but there's other justification too.

[Pareto]

Hey, sorry I'm late to the game here!

A few things to clairify for you:
1) Hydro prices are up in 2010. If you are not on Time-of-Use (TOU) billing, your hydro is up 15% (7% rate increase, 8% HST).
2) After two cool summers we had a typically hot summer requiring more air conditioning use - huge energy draw.
3) Your bills are based on what you use (and some stupid fees), if you want to pay less, use less. If you don't have actionable information with 60-bills, get a real-time monitor.

To Greg Moore, your concerns are legit! Homeowners, especially retirees are getting hit hard with rising energy bills, and TOU will hit them especially hard since they are generally home through the day when electricity will be most expensive. You can expect to hear a lot of anger from that group in the future on this issue.

That being said, I generally find that people in that situation are content with how their houses are, which is generally wasteful and are reluctant to change. Uninsulated walls, poor attic insulation, low efficiency 30-year old furnaces, poor windows, CRT televisions etc. These people would improve the quality of life in their home, reduce energy costs, increase home value and consequentially reduce emissions. It's the people that "have no problem paying these bills" or those that would rather complain than change behavior that have the greatest opportunity for financial gain by upgrading.

Rising energy prices are a reality. 2010 to 2011 heating prices going from fixed-rate to TOU billing will make air conditioning twice as expensive, unless you double the efficiency of your air conditioner. How fast is the economic payback on something like that? Now that's a good question!

Cheers.

[Shawn]

I recently received a booklet from the Government of Ontario - Ministry of Energy (http://www.mei.gov.on.ca/en/index.php) titled "Electricity prices are changing. Find Out Why."

One thing I noticed is that compared to a publication I got in the spring of 2010 from the Ontario Energy Board (http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/Consumers#1), the TOU (time of use) for Summer - Weekdays has been changed to something more favourable for the consumer.

Instead of the Off-peak time being 9pm to 7am, it's been changed to 7pm to 7am - giving consumers 2 extra hours of Off-peak pricing.

True, this is not a huge savings for most people, but to me it makes more sense and any little bit helps.

The other TOU charts (weekends - holidays and Winter-Weekdays) are the same.

[IEFBR14]

7pm to 7am - giving consumers 2 extra hours of Off-peak pricing
But those are a very important 2 extra hours for people who want to run their dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers as well as watch TV, etc. at "off peak" rates :RpS_thumbup:

I hope that's a sign of reasonableness from our government rather than just another sign of a looming election.

[natcordev]

Those 2 extra hours are a great help. We have exterior lights set on timers for our commercial buildings, so these 2 discounted hours will provide a nice discount for us!

[Urbanomicon]

This whole pricing policy makes me cringe. More than half of all electricity use is institutional, commercial and industrial; residential use only accounts for about 30%, and most of that is outside of normal business hours (ie. when people are home). Why then, would the government make a policy that targets the smallest of the electricity users? These "peak periods" are caused by businesses, factories and institutions, yet the residents have to pay the price. Not only that, but large electricity users get bulk discounts on electricity. This is sort of like instituting a "fuel consumption tax" that only targets people with hybrid vehicles and Smart Cars, and then giving drivers of hummers and SUVs a tax rebate.

[taylortbb]

Industrial users already pay TOU (time of use) pricing, residential users are the only ones that don't. I wouldn't say that's penalizing residential users, just removing their previous subsidy. The TOU pricing also means with a bit of planning you can save money on your hydro bill. In and of itself TOU pricing is revenue neutral.

Bulk discounts are more complex, I'm not sure whether they're fair.

[Urbanomicon]

Industrial users already pay TOU (time of use) pricing, residential users are the only ones that don't. I wouldn't say that's penalizing residential users, just removing their previous subsidy. The TOU pricing also means with a bit of planning you can save money on your hydro bill. In and of itself TOU pricing is revenue neutral.

Bulk discounts are more complex, I'm not sure whether they're fair.


I was not aware they extended it to industry, but the TOU pricing they pay allows them to save money on hydro, by operating during during off-peak hours; thus causing homeowners to pay more.


Homeowners will be hit with a hike of up $50 in annual hydro rates after Ontario’s cabinet ministers voted to give large industry users the same break on electricity rates during off-peak hours as enjoyed by everyone else.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Q8RXCfesJ6wJ:www.windsorstar.com/story_print.html%3Fid%3D3410398%26sponsor%3Dtrue

[taylortbb]

From the same article:


But there are too many variables on Tuesday to grasp the impact for local homeowners or other electricity user groups, he said.

Many large industry users already have long-term, fixed-rate contracts for electricity,.

Operating during off-peak does not simply require the revenue to come from elsewhere. Off-peak actually has lower generation and transmission costs, that's why it's cheaper. Generation and transmission must be built to support peak demand, if you reduce peak demand, or reduce growth of peak demand, by shifting electricity use to off hours that represents a real cost saving. Increased transmission during off-peak is free, the lines are already there for peak capacity. For Ontario's largest electricity source (nuclear) increased off peak usage is nearly free.

[UrbanWaterloo]

EB-2010-0295 Decision and Order
February 22, 2011 | Ontario Energy Board | PDF (http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/_Documents/Decisions/dec_order_LPP_Generic_20110222.pdf)

The Board Orders that:

1. The costs and damages arising from the LPP class action that are sought for recovery in this proceeding shall be recovered from all ratepayers of the Affected Electricity Distributors. A listing of each Affected Electricity Distributor and their share of the class action costs that is approved for recovery is provided in Appendix A to this Decision.

2. For the purposes of recovery, the costs and damages arising from the settlement of the LPP class action that are approved in this proceeding, shall be allocated to all customers of each Affected Electricity Distributor in Appendix A, on the basis of distribution revenues. The distribution revenues to be used for this purpose shall be the 2009 distribution revenues used in the RRR process.

3. THESL shall recover its share of the amount approved for recovery, as provided in Appendix A over a 24-month period starting May 1, 2011. All other Affected Electricity Distributors shall recover each of their shares of the amounts approved for recovery, as provided in Appendix A, over a 12-month period starting May 1, 2011.

4. The rate rider for the purposes of recovery shall be a fixed customer charge and for the purposes of this calculation, each Affected Electricity Distributor in Appendix A shall use the 2009 year-end actual customer or connection data, as applicable, reported as part of each distributor’s RRR.

5. The Board directs all Affected Electricity Distributors (in Appendix A) that currently have an IRM or cost of service application before the Board, to file with the Board within seven days of the date of this Decision and Order, detailed calculations including supporting documentation, outlining the derivation of the rate riders based on the methodology outlined in this Decision. The submitted rate riders shall be verified in the Affected Electricity Distributors’ respective IRM or cost of service applications.

6. For those Affected Electricity Distributors (in Appendix A) that do not currently have an IRM or cost of service application before the Board, the Board directs these distributors to file with Board within seven days of the date of this Decision and Order, detailed calculations including supporting documentation outlining the derivation of the rate riders based on the methodology outlined in this Decision. These distributors shall also file a draft tariff of rates and charges that includes the proposed rate riders. Intervenors and Board staff wishing to make submissions on the information filed shall do so within six days of the filing. The Affected Electricity Distributor shall have nine days from the date of the filing to respond to any submissions.

Appendix A

Affected Electricity Distributors and their share of the LPP class action costs that are approved for recovery
...
Cambridge & North Dumfries Hydro Inc. $194,554.99
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro Inc. $271,910.14
Waterloo North Hydro Inc. $173,479.23
...

[Greg Moore]

I'm not sure I understand properly.

1. Customers sued the companies
2. Companies lost
3. Companies pay back customers by raising rates to pay for the lawsuit

What am I missing?

[IEFBR14]

I'm not sure I understand properly.

1. Customers sued the companies
2. Companies lost
3. Companies pay back customers by raising rates to pay for the lawsuit

What am I missing?
Let me clarify:

1. Some of us sued all of us. (e.g. "Waterloo North Hydro Inc. [is] owned by the City of Waterloo and the Townships of Wellesley and Woolwich. (http://www.wnhydro.com/)")
2. We lost
3. We now have to pay back the costs of suing ourselves by raising our tax rates
4. The lawyers won—again, as usual (we lost more—again, and as usual.)

Feel better now? :banghead: