Our hydro bills are increasing at an unbelievable rate.
We have new energy efficient windows, maximum insulation in the attic, a newly insulated basement, and have taken many measures to reduce our hydro usage. And we have succeeded reducing the amount of hydro we use.
When temperature is considered, January 2020 was on average -5C. January 2019 was on average -10C. This winter January was warmer, and above -7C much of the time, and that means that we used electricity to heat our home much of the time this year. So in theory our hydro usage should have skyrocketed, but instead it dropped by 1.9%, mostly due to the new insulation in the basement.
Even though our hydro usage for January, 2020 is slightly less than our usage in January 2019, our bill is 51% higher. In one year, using roughly the same amount of hydro, our bill has increased by 51%.
When they privatized our public hydro system, they preached competitive pricing…
In the meantime my very small government pension was reduced due to a government “claw back”. I think the claw analogy is apt.
Lower income, much higher billing.
Robin Hood is turning in his grave.
January 2019
959.39 kWh for $77.98
on-peak: 163.7 kWh for $21.61
mid-peak: 160.4 kWh for $15.08
off-peak: 635.3 kWh for $41.29
January 2020
940.95 kWh for $117.72
on-peak: 151.1 kWh for $31.43
mid-peak: 151.5 kWh for $21.82
off-peak: 638.3 kWh for $64.47
% increase = Increase ÷ Original Number × 100
% Increase COST
117.72-77.98=39.74 increase
39.74/77.98 x 100 = 51% increase in the bill
% Decrease USAGE
940.95-959.39-940.=18.44 decrease
18.44/959.39 x 100 = 1.9% drop in hydro usage
Worldly
Weather
2°C
Date: 3:00 PM EST Tuesday 4 February 2020
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: SW 13 km/h
Temperature: 2.4°C
Pressure: 101.0 kPa
Dew point: -2.1°C
Visibility: 24 km
Humidity: 72%
Quote
“The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 – 1882
Something to keep in mind when politicians are doing their thing.
I’d like to know how they can be competitive when they have to build in profit, something that public utilities don’t have to do. What am I missing? -Kate
Since our hydro provider is our only available provider of electricity, there is no competition involved, at least for domestic consumers.
I am keeping my eye on solar and wind power, and highly efficient applances, as the way things are going it might be cheaper to buy the really expensive items that don’t use a lot of power, and generate some power for ourselve, than to keep buying it from the grid. Ontario is ridiculous, but I don’t know what is going on in other provinces.
Maggie, that really is outrageous and you have my sympathy. It makes me very appreciative that the sole provider available at our house is our rural electric cooperative.
Thank you Wendy! Someone is seeking membership in the 1% I suspect, but the details on that would be buried so deep that no one would ever find them. So much suffering in Ontario, Canada, due to these outrageious hydro costs, people having to choose between winter heat and food. For the moment we are managing, but if this trend continues we will be in trouble.
This situation has me looking beyond making our very small house more energy effiecient, and moving on to keep a close eye on alternative energy sources. So far the price tag on setting up our own energy system is pretty significant, but eventually it may be our only option.