Social In-Activists Raising My Utility Bills

Environmentalists feel that consumers should pay the full cost of utilities in order to reduce consumption. Look at tiered electrical rates. Now we have social in-activists looking giving the poor a break on utility costs. Come on fellows get together because your bullshit impacts on my energy bills and I have to make adjustments in my spending in order to survive on a fixed income.

Energy board unplugs the poor
May 04, 2007
Carol Goar

There was a sliver of solace in the discouraging ruling handed down by the Ontario Energy Board. Its vice-chair issued a strong dissenting opinion.

But it wasn't enough to bolster the spirits of anti-poverty activists.

"We are extremely disappointed that the majority decision sidestepped the opportunity to establish protections for low-income people," said tenants' rights lawyer Mary Truemner, who argued the case. "Something has to be done to address the hardship they face."

The Ontario Energy Board, which regulates the electricity and natural gas sectors, is an odd battleground in the war against poverty. It is an economic tribunal, not a social agency.

But the issues bubbling in its hearings provide a glimpse of what lies ahead as governments drive up energy prices and force consumers to reduce consumption. Some households won't be able to conserve. Some families won't be able to pay their heat and hydro bills.

The Low-Income Energy Network, a 58-member coalition of social agencies, legal aid clinics, public health organizations and community groups, has seen these problems coming for some time. Since 2004, it has been fighting to get relief for what it calls the "energy poor".

More