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Getting Zapped: Ontario electricity prices increasing faster than anywhere else
Read Our Report On Wind Subsidies in Ontario
Category Archives: Reforming Ontario’s Electrical Generation Sector
Could city council afford privatization?
The citizens of Toronto are owners of the biggest electricity distribution utility in Ontario.
They’ve embarked on a so-called WiFi venture to turn the city’s downtown into a giant wireless hot spot.
They’re major shareholders in a company that heats and cools millions of square feet of office space in downtown Toronto.
They own the city’s biggest parking company.
Ontario's renewable energy program needs competition
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s program to buy electricity from small renewable generators, which was announced March 21 in Cambridge, will sock Ontario consumers with such excessive costs it will make even nuclear power appear cost-effective.
Consumers will be forced to pay 11 cents per kilowatt hour for renewable power that’s identical to the renewable power bought by the government last fall for 8.6 cents – a 28-per-cent premium.
Hydro jolt coming
There could be shock waves around Ontario when higher hydro rates hit electricity bills after next month.
But homeowners shouldn’t expect any new government subsidies to curb costs, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.
The Ontario Energy Board is expected to announce as early as next week what rates most of the province’s four million homeowners will pay for electricity after May 1.
Get used to hydro hikes, watchdog warns
Toronto: Residential electricity charges in Ontario will jump by an average of 16 per cent next month, and industry observers warn that consumers should brace for regular increases in the future.
Typical consumers who use 1,000 kilowatts of power a month will see their monthly hydro rates climb to $61.60 from $52 under rate changes announced yesterday by Ontario’s energy regulator. The new rates of 5.8 cents a kilowatt hour and 6.7 cents, depending on consumption, come into effect May 1. The current rates are five cents and 5.8 cents.
12.9% more to turn on the lights
Londoners will pay more to turn on their air conditioners this summer.
Rate changes announced yesterday by the Ontario Energy Board will increase electricity bills for the average London Hydro customer by 12.9 per cent.
A family of four using 1,000 kilowatt hours a month will pay $120.78 starting May 1, up from the current $106.98, London Hydro spokesperson Nancy Hutton said.
Town hydro hike highest in province: CP Hike won't be the last: expert
Residential electricity charges in Ontario will be going up an average of 16 per cent next month and, according to published reports, that won’t be the end of it.
The average consumer using 1,000 kilowatts of power a month will see their rate increase by almost $10 to $62.
The new rates will increase the cost of hydro to 5.8 cents for the first 600 kilowatts and 6.8 cents for additional usage. Right now, rates are five cents and 5.8 cents respectively.
Nuclear power may be best energy option: McGuinty
Nuclear power may be the best option to fulfil Ontario’s future electricity needs, despite its obvious downsides – including Chornobyl-type accidents and the need to store radioactive waste, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday.
"That’s an issue," McGuinty said of the risks associated with nuclear power, including the devastating Chornobyl accident in 1986 that led to thousands of deaths.
Nuclear our best option, premier says
Nuclear power may be the best option to fulfil Ontario’s future electricity needs, despite its obvious downsides including Chornobyl-type accidents and radioactive waste, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday.
Natural gas is too expensive, wind power is unreliable, coal plants pollute the air and Ontario’s hydroelectric potential has largely been maxed out – leaving nuclear power expansions “on the table” for the province, McGuinty said.
Fixed-price electricity gains popularity in Ont.
More Ontarians are turning to long-term, fixed-price electricity contracts following last week’s announcement that regulated prices are rising May 1, but experts caution that prices would have to rise dramatically for the contracts to pay off.
"Signing one of those (long-term) contracts is extremely pessimistic,” says Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, a national consumer group. "What they’re offering is peace of mind at a huge premium."
Fixed-price electricity gains popularity in Ont.
More Ontarians are turning to long-term, fixed-price electricity contracts following last week’s announcement that regulated prices are rising May 1, but experts caution that prices would have to rise dramatically for the contracts to pay off.
"Signing one of those (long-term) contracts is extremely pessimistic,” says Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, a national consumer group. "What they’re offering is peace of mind at a huge premium."
Energy Probe 