Blame old meters for high rates: minister

ONTARIO - Old electricity meters being replaced with new “smart meters” are partly to blame for the rising cost of power in some Ontario homes, says Energy Minister Brad Duguid.

Under fire again for rising hydro rates, Duguid said that the old-style meters were “40 to 50 years old” in some cases and not as accurate as the new ones.

“We’ve heard a lot of political rhetoric about bills doubling and things like that. I’m not suggesting that bills haven’t gone up but there are a variety of reasons,” he told reporters.

One is the long and unusually hot summer that prompted many people to keep air conditioners humming much more than in the previous two summers and another is what Duguid called “old, crumbling” meters.

“When you put in the new meter you find out the previous meter wasn’t billing and working properly. So the new meter is bringing bills up to date and is more accurate.”

Almost one million of the 4.5 million households in Ontario now have smart meters, being installed as the system is modernized and as the government makes new investments in electricity generation to replace old coal-fired plants — another factor Duguid blames for rising bills.

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said this is the first time sheÂ’s heard the old meter explanation for the jump in electricity costs.

“Every day it’s a new story from the minister,” she said, repeating her call for the government to take the 8 per cent provincial portion of the new harmonized sales tax HST off hydro bills.

“The HST is salt in the wound to hydro costs. Just take the HST off hydro and start giving people a break.”

Smart meters allow consumers to be subject to “time of use” electricity prices, which are higher at peak periods from 7 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., encouraging them to shift power use to lower-cost times like late nights.

But critics of the government are saying those time periods make it difficult for many people to avoid high-priced electricity, forcing their bills up.