Some hydro customers say billing change punishes them for conserving energy

Lately, Ottawa resident Johan Hamels has been working hard to cut his electricity consumption. He hangs his clothes to up to dry instead of using a dryer, bought a furnace with a high-efficiency fan system and changed his halogen bulbs to LEDs.

Now he's learned that all his efforts may be for naught: come the new year, on the distribution portion of the Hydro Ottawa bill, those who use more electricity will be getting a break, while he will probably be paying more.

Even though the change will be minimal, Hamels believes an important principle is at stake.

"I think an electricity company should not favour people who use a lot, in fact as a society together we should use less electricity because producing electricity costs a lot of effort and money and resources from the planet," Hamel said.

Fixed rate set for distribution costs

The change is the result of the Ontario Energy Board's decision to start charging customers for distribution costs at a fixed rate across the province. By way of example, a customer who uses a lot of electricity, say 1,500 kilowatt hours a month, will pay 6.3 per cent less on that portion of their bill.

Those who use 800 kilowatts will pay one per cent more and the biggest energy savers — who use, as an example, 232 killowatts — will pay 2.6 per cent more.

Because transmission costs make up only 20 per cent of the bill, the changes won't make much of a difference in a hydro bill: perhaps a few pennies up to a dollar or two a month.

Change meant to address inequity between rural, urban customers

Karen Evans with the Ontario Energy Board says it's all about fairness and equity between rural and urban customers.

Many rural customers need to use more electricity to heat and run their homes and farms, and she says the OEB believes customers should pay a fixed cost for something that is a fixed asset: the electricity distribution system.

About 60 per cent of customers in Ontario will see little or no effect on their bill, while 20 per cent will see their bills go down and 20 per cent will see them go up, Evans said.

Johan Hamels expects that with all his energy conservation efforts, the distribution portion of his bill may be higher next year. But that hasn't deterred him.

"It has been proven that saving electricity by replacing old machinery or different kinds of lamps saves money for our family in the long term," adding that he soon plans to buy a new energy-efficient refrigerator.