Today I had the pleasure of receiving my electricity bill. Like you, the cost of electricity has gone up very much. I happen to have signed a contract a few years ago but contracts come to an end and I don't like the options I see.
Without contracts energy is 18 cents a kilowatt. I would think that most people are on the 18 cent a kilowatt rate.
So lets go back a few years. About 30 to 35 years ago we had a politician and government that thought that utilities should be owned and run by private companies. Their belief was that with private companies could do things more efficiently and with competition, energy rates would decrease. It hasn't happened yet. In fact, rates have actually gone up.
It wasn't long before the companies approached the government to see if they could charge a separate administration fee. Of course, the government said yes. Then the companies were back to have a special billing fee. Of course, you can have a special billing fee. This went on until we have seven added charges. The extra charges are more than we pay for electricity.
So in these days of inflation the very kind government is bending over backwards to "help" us with electrical payments. Last month they gave me $75.00 to help me pay my electrical bill. This month it's only $25.00 and I don't know why it's only $25.00..Could it be that we have an election in May?
In the good old days there was some stability to electrical charges. The province produced and sold the electrical energy. People knew what the price was and could live accordingly. Yes, the government assisted consumers regularly with this system.
This system has opened the door to abuses of the system that hurt the consumer.
In Canada, do you have a choice of electric providers? The reason I ask is you mentioned competition. Down here in Washington State, who provides your electric service depends on where you live and there are no other choices. So, I have Seattle City Light and if I don't like it that is just too bad. 😊
ReplyDeleteSky high power prices are here in California too, and an additional problem is we don't produce enough power to prevent blackouts. I think when all vehicles are electric as per government rules it is going to melt down our electric grid.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I'm hearing of a contract for electric service in Canada. In BC as you probably know, we only have BC Hydro and there is no contract per se except month to month.
ReplyDeleteso true that nobody in the govt seems to care about public dear Red
ReplyDeletehere too the other charges are far higher than actual bill and customer has to pay more than he spends voltage .people who steal power with the help of electricians of wapda are free from burden that is transferred to those who abide law sadly