Ontario electricity users face fee increase

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Ontario's electricity utilities have been given the go-ahead by the Ontario Energy Board to launch a wide range of energy conservation programs, and to cover the cost through higher rates to their customers.

As part of the program, six of the province's biggest utilities, including Toronto Hydro, Enersource Hydro Mississauga and Veridian, will band together to promote conservation under the common brand "powerWise."

Specific programs will vary from utility to utility, but they'll devise joint promotions for energy efficient appliances, education programs and home energy audits.

Toronto Hydro's plans include offering to buy back old, energy-guzzling appliances. Details haven't been announced.

But there's a price to be paid for conservation.

In Toronto, for example, rates will rise by about 7.6 per cent this year. That's a combination of higher rates to Toronto Hydro to cover the cost of the conservation programs and to increase profitability, plus higher prices for the energy portion of the electricity bill. In Mississauga, the total rate rise will be 7.1 per cent.

A typical household using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month pays roughly $100 for electricity at current rates in Greater Toronto, so a 7 per cent increase translates roughly into an extra $7 a month on the power bill.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan acknowledged that the money for conservation is coming from consumers, "and those conservation measures will fund the savings that they will realize over time from more efficient use of energy."

Duncan said electricity use has been climbing about 1.7 per cent a year and Ontario can declare victory if the increase drops to less than 1 per cent.

The energy board said conservation spending by utilities across the province will total $160 million.

Conservation spending still pales beside the amount spent on generation. Ontario Power Generation is spending $1 billion to refurbish one reactor at the Pickering A nuclear station. If successful, the project will increase the province's generating capacity by about 2 per cent.