Home Energy Report numbers don’t add up

Dear Hydro One and Premier Wynne, I am in receipt of your Home Energy Report where you advise that I have used more electricity than my neighbours. I have done a poll and all the neighbours I spoke to received the same message.

Maybe the neighbours who were “more efficient” are still away camping for the summer or they are only up for two weeks vacation, and maybe that is why they are more efficient. They aren’t around to use the electricity.

Sure, the summer has been hot and humid, and I have used the air conditioning a bit more than usual, but conversely, I have not used my oven at all and hang-dry my clothes.

Is this a ploy to get us to further conserve? What do you suggest we do when the colder months set in? Three layers of clothing, keeping the lights off and using candles and just forget about turning on the television? The cost of electricity continues to alarmingly rise. I spoke to a business owner who advises her hydro bill is now higher than her rent. We are becoming uncompetitive for business to operate and situate here in the province because of soaring hydro rates.

Not everyone has a gold-plated pension they can draw from to pay the hydro bill when it arrives. It is not right that a person has to choose between food and paying the hydro bill.

The province should be ashamed that we PAY the States and Quebec to take the extra electricity we generate. In the end, we, the taxpayers and users of hydro are the ones who are paying. This is a systemic problem and the provincial government needs to fix it.