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View Full Version : Cottage owners, brace yourselves for hydro increases.



ZR
08-19-2019, 08:43 AM
Ontario cottage owners are in for a shock this fall with electricity rates for seasonal customers set to rise by as much as 129 per cent.
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) tasked Hydro One with developing a billing model that would eliminate the class under which most seasonal customers have their hydro fees assessed.
<section id="inread-wrapper-id-118" style="font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></section>In a letter to its customers last week, the electricity provider warned that if the OEB eliminates the seasonal rate class, hydro bills will rise for more than half of them.
A spokesperson for the OEB said if the seasonal class is eliminated, Hydro One customers will be moved to one of the utility's other three residential classes, based on the population density of the area and the infrastructure and equipment costs that come with delivering electricity.
Billing changes fair, board saysThe OEB found some cottages are just as easy to supply with power as many year-round homes. Removing all seasonal users from the equation will make the billing structure fairer for everyone, the board says.
"This will ensure that seasonal customers pay the appropriate cost for their service they receive," wrote OEB spokesperson Mary Ellen Beninger.
But Hydro One says the new scheme, if implemented, would shift the burden of paying for power to those customers in rural and hard-to-reach areas, and said some cottage owners will see their bills skyrocket by as much as 129 per cent.
"An increase like that is disastrous," said cottager David Rogers, 78, whose family has maintained a wood-sided seasonal retreat outhwest of Ottawa on Christie Lake since 1946.

RedSN
08-19-2019, 08:47 AM
"This will ensure that seasonal customers pay the appropriate cost for their service they receive," wrote OEB spokesperson Mary Ellen Beninger.
What a load of shit. What service?
It's really insulting getting a bill in the middle of winter when you haven't used a single damn WATT.
At least we don't get one of those letters saying "your using more electricity than your average neighbor" :facepalm:




"An increase like that is disastrous," said cottager David Rogers
That might be over-stating a bit.

ZR
08-19-2019, 08:49 AM
It's like when rates soared because of huge demand, we all bought into be more efficient n shut the lights off, then it went up because demand was so low.

IanGTCS
08-19-2019, 11:25 PM
Wait, you mean that the line running under the lake to a hydro vault that serves 6 cottages (like the one at my wifes family cottage) costs more to maintain than one in town? Suck it up cottage owners. You chose a remote property, deal with it.

If a jump in hydro means you can't afford the cottage guess what - you couldn't afford it before.

Ponyryd
08-19-2019, 11:49 PM
Kinda stupid if you ask me, would be like Hagerty charging full pop for cars that get used only a few months of the year. Cottage life is great, and part of the allure is that they’re somewhat cheap to own.

92redragtop
08-20-2019, 12:02 AM
Lower volume = loss of scale and higher per unit cost.

IanGTCS
08-20-2019, 12:31 AM
Lower volume = loss of scale and higher per unit cost.

Exactly. I have no sympathy for cottage owners in this, and I say that as someone who married into cottage ownership.

True Blue
08-20-2019, 05:28 AM
The report just came out that Hydro One's second quarter profit fell almost 25%. Need to find ways to keep the shareholders happy.

G-ForceJunkie
08-20-2019, 06:54 AM
It's no different than charging rural customers more than urban customers (which already happens). The cost of ensuring electricity gets reliably to a property doesn't change depending on how many months a year you use it. As it is now, we all subsidise those rural cottage owners. This will probably push a few of those cottages to go off-grid though.

Chinga
08-22-2019, 10:32 AM
Thank the Liberals and Orville Redenbacher.