Ontario extends PST break for ‘green’ appliances
TORONTO, ONTARIO - Going green will continue to save you some green.
As first announced in the spring budget, the Ontario government is extending the provincial sales tax exemption on energy-efficient appliances and most bicycles.
Energy Star-rated refrigerators, freezers, washers, dehumidifiers and room air conditioners qualify, along with high-efficiency light bulbs and bicycles costing less than $1,000, Premier Dalton McGuinty said. The 8 per cent PST exemption on appliances and light bulbs will continue until Aug. 31, 2009, and is expected to cost the treasury about $52 million.
The tax break on bikes, helmets and other cycling safety gear will continue until Dec. 31, 2010, at a cost to provincial coffers of about $16 million.
McGuinty acknowledged his government was examining other ways to encourage consumers to choose more environmentally friendly products.
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Russian hackers had 'hundreds of victims' as they infiltrated U.S. power grid
WASHINGTON - Russian hackers for a state-sponsored organization invaded hundreds of control rooms of U.S. electric utilities that could have led to blackouts, a new report says.
The group, known as Dragonfly or Energetic Bear, infiltrated networks of U.S. utilities as part of an effort that is likely ongoing, Department of Homeland Security officials told the Wall Street Journal.
Jonathan Home, chief of industrial-control-system analysis for DHS, said the hackers “got to the point where they could have thrown switches” and upset power flows.
Although the agency did not disclose which companies were impacted, the officials at a briefing Monday said that there…
