WHAT HYDRO ONE NEEDS TO DO

For Hydro One to stave off the coming class action suit, they would have to agree, in writing, and implement immediately the following. (The class action suit will include these items as the settlement, so they either do this voluntarily or be forced to by the courts)

1. Go public that smart meter readings can be wrong, have been wrong, multiplying the actual consumption by more than 2 times. They will disclose the range of discrepancy.
2. Put on hold the Time of Use billing slated to start soon until they fix the current problem with the meters.
3. Figure out how many people have been screwed, over billed, making public the number of such people and how much is collectively owed back to them. Then compensate everyone with what they are owed, stating for every month how much was over billed. The payback must include transmission costs, provincial benefit (if applies) and debt retirement (all these are based on the actual consumption, thus those would have been over paid too). How they are going to compensate people who have lost their homes over these false measurements would have to be settled by civil action of each person affected.
4. Hydro One puts into place a mechanism such that this never happens again. They change their policy towards customers from one of a predatory behaviour to one of servicing the public. They must set up an independent ombudsman, paid by Hydro One, for all complaints about consumption readings. From that point on any complaint about consumption that is anomalous to normal use will result in the meter immediately pulled and replaced with another that is certified to be correct. That certification being given by Measurements Canada.
5. Provide devices for everyone who wants one so that the smart meter can send data to their personal computer in real time. The software would provide people with the ability to see their actual consumption, so that when a device is turned on they can see immediately what that does to their consumption. This is vital for people to manage their own consumption since Time of Use is coming. These devices MUST be made available prior to going to Time of Use and made available at a cost people can afford.
6. The Government of Ontario re-regulates the industry.

The last issue I know will be contentious for some, long over due for others. I'm just as much for capitalism as anyone. I defend capitalism whenever it is unjustly attacked. But capitalism only works when there is competition. Electrical supply does not have competition. The government and the industry tries to claim there is competition, such as with the creation of retailers, but this is just smoke and mirrors, there is no real competition. There is only one set of transmission lines, hence only one way to get power to your home. That's a monopoly -- period. Hydro One, in it's predatory behaviour to its captive audience, proves that private industry running a monopoly is bad for the consumer, an ultimately bad for the Province. It's time to end that monopoly and put all aspects of power production, transmission and service back into the hands of the public sector with a huge caveat.

Provincial governments have also shown they are incompetent when it comes to providing power for the province. Thus, the province must set up a power utility committee of ordinary citizens, who serve no more than one year, open to anyone, except those noted, who wishes to serve, with no compensation. No one with any conflict of interest, that is people who work within any aspect of power production, get contracted with any aspect of power production, nor any politicians, can serve on the committee. That committee sets prices, salaries for all management of the utilities and the scope and goals of the direction our power production goes in the future.

If anyone has anything they wish to append to this list please pass it along.