Ontario Electricity prices

[chemgear]

Sounds pretty crazy to me.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...ease-1.3298396

Sunday's rate hike means the on-peak price of electricity has jumped 77 per cent since Smart Meters became common five years ago. In November 2010, the price was 9.9 cents/kWh.

- The price for off-peak hours goes up 0.3 cents to 8.3 cents/kWh.
- The price for mid-peak hours goes up 0.6 cents to 12.8 cents/kWh.
- The price for on-peak hours goes up 1.4 cents to 17.5 cents/kWh.

"Just confusion — What the heck is going on?" Adams told CBC Queen's Park reporter Mike Crawley of the reaction

"None of it shows any decreases in prices," Adams said. "It only moves in one direction."
Another factor that could affect household hydro bills is the looming sell-off of Hydro One. The Liberal government says partial privatization won't impact consumers' costs, but the opposition thinks otherwise.

"Hydro One will be on its own and the pressure it feels will be from stockholders, people who want increased revenue every year," NDP energy critic Peter Tabuns told CBC News. "That's going to have an impact."

EDIT: Very little off-peak (obviously) - so 2 or 3 times what we have here?

In addition to the rate hike, the hours for mid-peak and on-peak prices also change to winter "time-of-use" hours. From Nov. 1 to April 30, weekdays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. are considered mid-peak hours. Weekdays between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. are on-peak hours, which saw the highest rate increase.

[Fuzz]

To bad they couldn't use more cheap western Canadian gas in some sort of pipe system, and build gas plants....

[Regorium]

Doesn't seem too crazy. Ontario's government made a choice to go 100% green, which is an admirable goal, and this is the completely expected result. I think it's quite good that Ontarians have decided to step up to the plate and take money out of their own pockets for the good of the environment.

We should probably move that way here in Alberta too.

I think seeing what's happening in Ontario is a great way for people to understand that things cost money, and keeping our rates, while shutting off every single coal plant in a single fell swoop is just completely unfeasible.

[itcrossedtheline]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

To bad they couldn't use more cheap western Canadian gas in some sort of pipe system, and build gas plants....

it's cheaper to buy gas in the east and use short haul pipe rather than pay the AB price and pay the long haul toll. Also, hard to build any new plants in Ontario with all the NIMBYism out there.

[PeteMoss]

In the summer - most of the higher cost stuff is during work hours, so basically 90% of my usage gets the off-peak rate.

In the winter - its worse since the peak time is from 5pm-7pm (and 7am-11pm) so you end up with more peak rates during the time you are home.

Most businesses aren't on the different rates during different times - so they don't have to deal with that.

But yes - our rates have gone up like crazy. Closing the coal plants didn't help the rates, but a big problem is the government set-up deals to buy wind and solar power at a rate way higher than market value so we end up paying too much for it since a bunch of power companies moved in to take advantage of those rates.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by itcrossedtheline

it's cheaper to buy gas in the east and use short haul pipe rather than pay the AB price and pay the long haul toll. Also, hard to build any new plants in Ontario with all the NIMBYism out there.

They already import Natural gas from the west, but the vast majority of power here is Nuclear and Hydro. Gas is only 10% of power generated.

[burn_this_city]

Here's the Liberal's green shaft in action. Watch for Notley to institute something similar in Alberta during her time in office.

[FlamesAddiction]

It also doesn't help that OPG and Hydro One salaries have increased at about the same rate. Even low-level employees and technologists make more than $100k/year.

http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/publicat...city&year=2014

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Here's the Liberal's green shaft in action. Watch for Notley to institute something similar in Alberta during her time in office.

Hopefully they will learn from the Ontario experience and do something different than the outlandish Feed In Tariff.

Electricity prices have to go up, especially if carbon emissions start being priced appropriately.

[ken0042]

For me, I might welcome some sort of green initiative; if it can be done correctly.

Part of Ontario's high power prices pays for the subsidy that people get for installing solar. Basically a person in Ontario can install solar on their house, taking care of most of their power needs, and not have to pay extra. The subsidy takes care of it.

That is one way a "carbon tax" is actually useful- as the money goes directly from consumer to consumer.

[bigtmac19]

My hydro bill for my modest townhouse is obscene. My last two bills have been over $200. I can never decipher my bill either, I'm at work during the day, so the only thing running in the house would be the refrigerator and in the summer the AC which is turned up during the day, so much so that the house is barely comfortable when I get home, yet my on-peak usage always seems high.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by ken0042

For me, I might welcome some sort of green initiative; if it can be done correctly.

Part of Ontario's high power prices pays for the subsidy that people get for installing solar. Basically a person in Ontario can install solar on their house, taking care of most of their power needs, and not have to pay extra. The subsidy takes care of it.

That is one way a "carbon tax" is actually useful- as the money goes directly from consumer to consumer.

you're first sentence is extremely telling, Ontario is certainly not doing it right, when I've read that Ontario Utilities bill are nearly double any other province.

From the gas plant scandal to how they've implemented the green energy stuff has been one boondoggle after another.

And the people that it effects badly are on the lower and middle class.

[itcrossedtheline]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

you're first sentence is extremely telling, Ontario is certainly not doing it right, when I've read that Ontario Utilities bill are nearly double any other province.

From the gas plant scandal to how they've implemented the green energy stuff has been one boondoggle after another.

And the people that it effects badly are on the lower and middle class.

They are also introducing a carbon cap and trade system which affect all industries. If those costs are borne by power generators (gas) you can expect consumers bills to rise as well.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

you're first sentence is extremely telling, Ontario is certainly not doing it right, when I've read that Ontario Utilities bill are nearly double any other province.

If you have been reading about Ontario, then you'll know a large part of that bill is legacy debt financing.

That situation doesn't exist in Alberta.

The Green Energy policy Feed In Tariff was mispriced, but it was working. Ontario was getting new generators to market. The biggest mistake was changing the policy without a plan. Nobody in their right mind would invest with that uncertainty.

Electricity is far too politicized for an essential need.