They just keep coming... Higher rates pushing people over the edge.
--------------------
Hello
I have a few horror stories
Now for the record i am an Licensed Industrial Electrician
I keep an eye on all my hydro usage
Even way before the smart meter
Our usage has been constant i have monitored incoming usage with other meters When the math is applied it just dont add up even before the handling charge
the month the smart meter was installed my hydro jumped nearly 150% my consumption was usual .....after the jump we cut way back and only cooked ..or did laundry on off peak hours but the bills stayed high ... even when we were away for a week i turned off all the breakers except the new fridge and sump pump .... the next bill was even higher ........ shit we were gone for a week
Times are tough we are having hard time with the bills " as is most of Ontario"they feel we didnt pay our bill soon enough so they applied the $600 security deposit .I complained and still i paid it ... with my last R.R.S.P.......2 months later...now again this year first month they want another $600 deposit i will loose my home.......
we keep the house at 68 degrees and lower at night with a smart thermostat no air conditioners no pools no saunas or spas gas heat and gas water heater ...Its downright nasty
And they wonder why the Suicide rates are getting higher .......I have no way of keeping food on table ...mortgage ... and hydro ripoff bills
Monday, January 24, 2011
Toronto Star's Attempt at White Wash
This appeared in the Star today:
Too bad the Star did not allow comments on that opinion piece. They do that when they know they will get bad comments.
First, that study is only flawed to those who did not like the message that was in it. 2.2 private jobs lost for every green job created.
That I will get to later, what I want to do here is show something different. How many other jobs are required to support those 50,000 green jobs? All the money for their salaries has to come from hydrobills.
Assume that each of those green jobs pays $50,000 per year. Times 50,000 jobs and we get $2.5 BILLION. Yep, BILLION. Now if your hydrobills increase by $1000 per year, how many people does that take to pay that $2.5 billion? 2.5 million people.
How many people are there paying hydrobills in Ontario? About 2.5 million.
So that means for the Liberals to create 50,000 green jobs, your hydrobills need to increase by at least $1000 per year.
Any government’s employment projections depend rather a lot on the assumptions behind them, so it’s little surprise that from time to time people have questioned Premier Dalton McGuinty’s assertion that his green energy policies would create 50,000 jobs in three years.
But now Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak is going much further, claiming that provincial investments in green energy will actually cost jobs — possibly as many as 345,000.Fortunately for Ontarians (and unfortunately for Hudak), this conclusion is based on a flawed Spanish academic study and a subsequent paper from an Italian think-tank. The 2009 study has been widely and thoroughly discredited.
“The primary conclusion made by the authors — policy support of renewable energy results in net job losses — is not supported by their work,” states a white paper produced by an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The critique goes on to note that the study “lacks transparency and
supporting statistics and . . . fails to account for important issues.” That
could easily be a reference to Hudak’s own energy statements.
He says, “we must create a strong, reliable and affordable energy plan that puts consumers first.” But Hudak has yet to indicate what he means by any
of that. He condemns rising hydro bills but has not explained how he would pay to bring new power on-line (or even where it would come from) and upgrade transmission lines.
Instead of recycling discredited studies to launch yet more attacks on
McGuinty’s government, Hudak would better serve Ontarians by telling us all how he proposes to keep the lights on.
Too bad the Star did not allow comments on that opinion piece. They do that when they know they will get bad comments.
First, that study is only flawed to those who did not like the message that was in it. 2.2 private jobs lost for every green job created.
That I will get to later, what I want to do here is show something different. How many other jobs are required to support those 50,000 green jobs? All the money for their salaries has to come from hydrobills.
Assume that each of those green jobs pays $50,000 per year. Times 50,000 jobs and we get $2.5 BILLION. Yep, BILLION. Now if your hydrobills increase by $1000 per year, how many people does that take to pay that $2.5 billion? 2.5 million people.
How many people are there paying hydrobills in Ontario? About 2.5 million.
So that means for the Liberals to create 50,000 green jobs, your hydrobills need to increase by at least $1000 per year.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Why Mcguinty's hydro experiment is not financially visable and Ontarian's have a rght to know
These Green Energy's produce power intermittently which will cause gas and nuclear plants to over produce in which Quebec and the Americans benefit from our excess hydro for far better prices than Ontarian's get and in some cases we will be paying them to take power off our grid .
Mcguinty may tell Ontarian's are power grid was in bad shape and we would get blacks if he did not spent 87 billion dollars on upgrades but he tore up a similar plan that would of cost tax payers 60 billion dollars in 2007 so if the hydro grid was in that bad of shape why the 3 year delay which cost tax payers a extra 27 billion dollars .
Then in 2009 Mcguinty paid Bruce Power 58 million dollars not to produce power also in 2010 he cancels a gas plant in Oakville Ontario and says the power was not needed and does not know what the cost will be to for breaking this contract .
But Mcguinty signs a contract to pay IKEA 71.3 cents a kilowatt to put solar panels on there roof tops in Toronto on top of that Ontarians are giving IKEA six hundred and eighty five thousand dollars a year in subsidies one must ask are the subsidies for the length of the contract and we may never know the details of the 7 billion Sam Sung deal.
This next part is based on if interest ,taxes and the cost for going over budget was not included in the 87 billion dollar quote as when I phone the offices of Mcguinty's , Brad Duguid, Dwight Duncan, Finance Department, and the Department of Energy they would send me to one department to the other saying the other departments have the info they have no idea on the cost.
So what is the possible cost of this experiment to start we have 87 billion dollars say it runs 15% over budget now we have 100 billion dollars add on the HST which is another 13% for a total of 113 billion dollars then add on the interest over 30 years or longer we may be paying up to 180 billion dollars or higher when it's paid for which translates into higher rates.
So I ask how is this good for family's and kids of today and in the future and why the Liberals won't answer my question on the overall true dollar cost to this hydro project as Ontarian's have a right to know.
December 2010 Ontario hydro customers subsidized hydro sales to Quebec and the Americans to the amount of 52.8 million dollars how much are other months costing Ontarian's and how much are we going to pay Bruce Power or other Utilities' not to produce power in 2011 and years to come with blunders like this there is no excuse to keep raising our hydro rates .
Mcguinty and his government must be held accountable to lower hydro rates as the people of Ontario can't afford higher hydro bills.
There are reports the Governments of Germany, France , Spain, England and our American neighbours are cutting back on there subsidies for green energy as they are losing more jobs due to Green Energy than it is creating and the cost to create a job is far to high when will Mcguinty figure this out .
Ross Ayotte
Smiths Falls Ont
Info done below is not part of the letter just for verification purposes if you need to check on something also a response from the NDP and Conservatives parties
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/866129--the-cost-of-wind-power-when-we-don-t-need-it
Ontario government gives IKEA $685000 per year in solar power ...
Mcguinty may tell Ontarian's are power grid was in bad shape and we would get blacks if he did not spent 87 billion dollars on upgrades but he tore up a similar plan that would of cost tax payers 60 billion dollars in 2007 so if the hydro grid was in that bad of shape why the 3 year delay which cost tax payers a extra 27 billion dollars .
Then in 2009 Mcguinty paid Bruce Power 58 million dollars not to produce power also in 2010 he cancels a gas plant in Oakville Ontario and says the power was not needed and does not know what the cost will be to for breaking this contract .
But Mcguinty signs a contract to pay IKEA 71.3 cents a kilowatt to put solar panels on there roof tops in Toronto on top of that Ontarians are giving IKEA six hundred and eighty five thousand dollars a year in subsidies one must ask are the subsidies for the length of the contract and we may never know the details of the 7 billion Sam Sung deal.
This next part is based on if interest ,taxes and the cost for going over budget was not included in the 87 billion dollar quote as when I phone the offices of Mcguinty's , Brad Duguid, Dwight Duncan, Finance Department, and the Department of Energy they would send me to one department to the other saying the other departments have the info they have no idea on the cost.
So what is the possible cost of this experiment to start we have 87 billion dollars say it runs 15% over budget now we have 100 billion dollars add on the HST which is another 13% for a total of 113 billion dollars then add on the interest over 30 years or longer we may be paying up to 180 billion dollars or higher when it's paid for which translates into higher rates.
So I ask how is this good for family's and kids of today and in the future and why the Liberals won't answer my question on the overall true dollar cost to this hydro project as Ontarian's have a right to know.
December 2010 Ontario hydro customers subsidized hydro sales to Quebec and the Americans to the amount of 52.8 million dollars how much are other months costing Ontarian's and how much are we going to pay Bruce Power or other Utilities' not to produce power in 2011 and years to come with blunders like this there is no excuse to keep raising our hydro rates .
Mcguinty and his government must be held accountable to lower hydro rates as the people of Ontario can't afford higher hydro bills.
There are reports the Governments of Germany, France , Spain, England and our American neighbours are cutting back on there subsidies for green energy as they are losing more jobs due to Green Energy than it is creating and the cost to create a job is far to high when will Mcguinty figure this out .
Ross Ayotte
Smiths Falls Ont
Info done below is not part of the letter just for verification purposes if you need to check on something also a response from the NDP and Conservatives parties
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/866129--the-cost-of-wind-power-when-we-don-t-need-it
Ontario government gives IKEA $685000 per year in solar power ...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Ontario customers paid $52.8 million last month to subsidize electricity users in the United States and Quebec.
By Don Butler,
Postmedia News January 11, 2011
Ontario producers sold a record amount of electricity to neighbouring jurisdictions in December. But if you think that's good news, think again.
What it really means is that Ontario has so much surplus power, it has to unload it at whatever price it can get. And lately, market prices have been well below what Ontario residents pay for the same electricity.
Because wholesale electricity prices are in the basement, "we're losing money on every kilowatt hour that crosses the border," says energy consultant Tom Adams. He calculates that Ontario customers paid $52.8 million last month to subsidize electricity users in the United States and Quebec.
There was so much surplus electricity flooding the market, Ontario generators even had to pay users as much as 13 cents a kilowatt hour to take surplus power off their hands at times.
Typically, those negative prices only apply to a few isolated hours. But on New Year's Day, the hourly Ontario energy price for the whole day was negative, averaging -$20.29 per megawatt hour -- the lowest daily average since records began.
As a result, Ontario power generators paid $1.46 million to external markets to rid themselves of power on Jan. 1, according to the province's Independent Electricity System Operator.
In theory, Ontario businesses and residents also benefit from low or negative wholesale power rates.
But those savings are offset by something called the global adjustment charge.
Global adjustment, formerly known as the provincial benefit, accounts for the difference between the spot market price and the minimum rates paid to regulated and contracted electricity generators.
Those rates vary widely, depending on the generation source. But right now, they're higher -- sometimes much higher -- than the wholesale price, which averaged 3.79 cents per kilowatt hour last year.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor StarRead more: http://www.windsorstar.com/Power+exports+necessarily+good+thing/4089636/story.html#ixzz1AkOp1bqq
Postmedia News January 11, 2011
Ontario producers sold a record amount of electricity to neighbouring jurisdictions in December. But if you think that's good news, think again.
What it really means is that Ontario has so much surplus power, it has to unload it at whatever price it can get. And lately, market prices have been well below what Ontario residents pay for the same electricity.
Because wholesale electricity prices are in the basement, "we're losing money on every kilowatt hour that crosses the border," says energy consultant Tom Adams. He calculates that Ontario customers paid $52.8 million last month to subsidize electricity users in the United States and Quebec.
There was so much surplus electricity flooding the market, Ontario generators even had to pay users as much as 13 cents a kilowatt hour to take surplus power off their hands at times.
Typically, those negative prices only apply to a few isolated hours. But on New Year's Day, the hourly Ontario energy price for the whole day was negative, averaging -$20.29 per megawatt hour -- the lowest daily average since records began.
As a result, Ontario power generators paid $1.46 million to external markets to rid themselves of power on Jan. 1, according to the province's Independent Electricity System Operator.
In theory, Ontario businesses and residents also benefit from low or negative wholesale power rates.
But those savings are offset by something called the global adjustment charge.
Global adjustment, formerly known as the provincial benefit, accounts for the difference between the spot market price and the minimum rates paid to regulated and contracted electricity generators.
Those rates vary widely, depending on the generation source. But right now, they're higher -- sometimes much higher -- than the wholesale price, which averaged 3.79 cents per kilowatt hour last year.
© Copyright (c) The Windsor StarRead more: http://www.windsorstar.com/Power+exports+necessarily+good+thing/4089636/story.html#ixzz1AkOp1bqq
A lot of us can’t afford our electricity bills anymore
http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2922679
By Toby Barrett
Posted 1 day ago
There is a growing concern locally and across Ontario.
People are finding they just don't have the extra money to pay for electricity. I hear it at my offices and I've heard it door to door as I canvassed hamlets across Norfolk and Haldimand.
And the dawning of a new year does little to shed light on how government expects families and industry to afford its costly legacy of shaky energy policies.
After seven years of tinkering and backtracking with energy experiments, electricity rates have skyrocketed 75 per cent under this government, and that doesn't include an additional 8 per cent HST now on bills. Worse still, Mr. McGuinty's expensive energy schemes – including the smart meter tax machine and the Samsung deal – will soon force bills up another 46 per cent according to this government's own modest estimates. In dollars and cents, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters estimate the family electricity bill is going up another $732 a year by 2015.
The Ontario Liberals' decision to vote down a motion this fall to remove the HST from electricity bills will come back to haunt them –I and my caucus colleagues voted in support.
While we see massive subsidies to green energy developers well above the market price for power – 80.2 cents per kWh for solar vs. 4 cents per kWh for coal – in the end, it's you and I who pay the price.
There are other jurisdictions that adopted similar buy-high, sell-low approaches, but they are walking away after discovering the policy to be unsustainable and unaffordable.
Spain, for example, found that 2.2 jobs were lost in their broader economy for every job that was created by the subsidies. And Italy's approach cost 4.8 jobs in the broader economy for every subsidized job created.
In response to the negative impact on job creation, and the cost, many international leaders in green energy are now rushing to slash lucrative subsidies - Germany, the UK and New South Wales, Australia have all joined the line-up to reduce green grants.
Here in Ontario, it's municipalities that have been lining up to take their shots at changing the costly course of the Green Energy Act. Over the past two months at least 25 municipalities have passed motions asking for government action on the electricity file. Many of them echo the sentiments of a draft resolution sent around by the Municipal Taxpayer Advocacy group, in part to:
· remove the PST portion of the electricity bill
· limit electricity rate increases to the rate of inflation
· restore input on wind and energy from waste
· report findings of a Competition Bureau investigation into the Samsung contract.
As well, since last fall a series of resolutions have been tabled in which 75 Ontario municipalities opposed the use of huge wind turbines - requesting a moratorium on new wind power projects until health concerns have been addressed. Last May, Norfolk County approved a motion to support a moratorium on the erection of any industrial wind turbines until rigorous scientific research has been conducted.
As Ontario's Opposition, we support a moratorium, as well as real choice on time-of-use smart meter pricing, and the naming of a consumer advocate to the Ontario Energy Board.
We can't afford to do less.
By Toby Barrett
Posted 1 day ago
There is a growing concern locally and across Ontario.
People are finding they just don't have the extra money to pay for electricity. I hear it at my offices and I've heard it door to door as I canvassed hamlets across Norfolk and Haldimand.
And the dawning of a new year does little to shed light on how government expects families and industry to afford its costly legacy of shaky energy policies.
After seven years of tinkering and backtracking with energy experiments, electricity rates have skyrocketed 75 per cent under this government, and that doesn't include an additional 8 per cent HST now on bills. Worse still, Mr. McGuinty's expensive energy schemes – including the smart meter tax machine and the Samsung deal – will soon force bills up another 46 per cent according to this government's own modest estimates. In dollars and cents, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters estimate the family electricity bill is going up another $732 a year by 2015.
The Ontario Liberals' decision to vote down a motion this fall to remove the HST from electricity bills will come back to haunt them –I and my caucus colleagues voted in support.
While we see massive subsidies to green energy developers well above the market price for power – 80.2 cents per kWh for solar vs. 4 cents per kWh for coal – in the end, it's you and I who pay the price.
There are other jurisdictions that adopted similar buy-high, sell-low approaches, but they are walking away after discovering the policy to be unsustainable and unaffordable.
Spain, for example, found that 2.2 jobs were lost in their broader economy for every job that was created by the subsidies. And Italy's approach cost 4.8 jobs in the broader economy for every subsidized job created.
In response to the negative impact on job creation, and the cost, many international leaders in green energy are now rushing to slash lucrative subsidies - Germany, the UK and New South Wales, Australia have all joined the line-up to reduce green grants.
Here in Ontario, it's municipalities that have been lining up to take their shots at changing the costly course of the Green Energy Act. Over the past two months at least 25 municipalities have passed motions asking for government action on the electricity file. Many of them echo the sentiments of a draft resolution sent around by the Municipal Taxpayer Advocacy group, in part to:
· remove the PST portion of the electricity bill
· limit electricity rate increases to the rate of inflation
· restore input on wind and energy from waste
· report findings of a Competition Bureau investigation into the Samsung contract.
As well, since last fall a series of resolutions have been tabled in which 75 Ontario municipalities opposed the use of huge wind turbines - requesting a moratorium on new wind power projects until health concerns have been addressed. Last May, Norfolk County approved a motion to support a moratorium on the erection of any industrial wind turbines until rigorous scientific research has been conducted.
As Ontario's Opposition, we support a moratorium, as well as real choice on time-of-use smart meter pricing, and the naming of a consumer advocate to the Ontario Energy Board.
We can't afford to do less.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The H1 Meter Multiplier Effect
I was sent this email, who wishes to remain anonamous:
Mr Wakefield
I read an old article online that you were mad as hell at Hydro One regarding a huge jump in your hydro bills once your old meter was changed out with a smart meter. I have read many such stories online. I can't imagine the pain of receiving these large monthly bills. I had the opportunity to talk to one of my in laws over Christmas who happens to work at Hydro One as a technician (10 years or so). I asked him what was going on.... well I heard an answer that was very surprising but seemed to make sense for a lot of the stories out there. He had a service call where the customer was really polite and asked him to see while he was there if he could figure out why his bill might be about 5x higher since the smart meter went in. Well when they get a work order, it includes info on the previous meter,this is the shocking part, some meters where geared and designed to turn slower but they had a multiplier factor 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, some maybe even 20x. Well looking at the history at the address the tech could see that indeed the customers old meter did have a multiplier, and when the new smart meter got installed the multiplier was carried forward, ALL SMART METERS are a 1x multiplier as they are digital. So no matter how many times you test your smart meter it will likely always come back testing just fine. There is one line of code in a computer program at hydro one multiplying your usage, causing a much higher than normal bill. My in law passed the info to his supervisor but I don't think this will help. My hope is that Hydro One is held accountable for this mix up and corrects the problem.
Mr Wakefield
I read an old article online that you were mad as hell at Hydro One regarding a huge jump in your hydro bills once your old meter was changed out with a smart meter. I have read many such stories online. I can't imagine the pain of receiving these large monthly bills. I had the opportunity to talk to one of my in laws over Christmas who happens to work at Hydro One as a technician (10 years or so). I asked him what was going on.... well I heard an answer that was very surprising but seemed to make sense for a lot of the stories out there. He had a service call where the customer was really polite and asked him to see while he was there if he could figure out why his bill might be about 5x higher since the smart meter went in. Well when they get a work order, it includes info on the previous meter,this is the shocking part, some meters where geared and designed to turn slower but they had a multiplier factor 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, some maybe even 20x. Well looking at the history at the address the tech could see that indeed the customers old meter did have a multiplier, and when the new smart meter got installed the multiplier was carried forward, ALL SMART METERS are a 1x multiplier as they are digital. So no matter how many times you test your smart meter it will likely always come back testing just fine. There is one line of code in a computer program at hydro one multiplying your usage, causing a much higher than normal bill. My in law passed the info to his supervisor but I don't think this will help. My hope is that Hydro One is held accountable for this mix up and corrects the problem.
Monday, January 3, 2011
WELCOME TO THE NEW YEAR
And the last year of this government. Rumours have it that the Liberals will bring in a budget, then end the session as they concentrated on getting relected. Fat chance.
Maybe we need to be like the Bolivians:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101231/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_bolivia_gasoline
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