January 13, 2019
Idaho, Letters, Washington

Commissioners prevented poverty

The Spokesman-Review | Jan. 13, 2019 | www.spokesman.com

Avista electric customers can rest assured that electricity prices will not skyrocket to levels that afflict HydroOne’s Ontario customers, now that Washington’s and Idaho’s utility commissions rejected the Avista Corp. acquisition, a ploy that Financial Post calls “fake capitalism for monopolies.”

High electric bills devastate rural Ontario today, according to CKWS TV News. The cost of HydroOne’s electricity remained secretive here while Ontario’s rates zoomed to North America’s highest. In 2013, 392,962 Ontario electric customers could not pay electricity bills and 58,286 electric customers were disconnected, as reported by stopthesethings.com. HydroOne recently disconnected a family of six when electric debt reached $10,000. A mom says rates increased 20-fold in 20 years but they have no water and barbecue in the snow (Global News). Seniors and families must choose between heating or eating. United Way’s director says homes were abandoned because electricity cost more than mortgages. The largest tops $22,000, as reported by CBC Radio.

Consumer Policy Institute reports, HydroOne’s electric rates whizzed past 30 cents per kwh in 2015 to 36 cents in 2016. They currently pay 44 cents per kilowatt-hour for wind turbine electricity, or nearly six times Avista’s electricity, (Parker Gallant Energy Perspectives). The reason: green energy.

Thank you, commissioners, for avoiding energy poverty and the health problems Ontarians suffer living near wind turbines (according to reports by greatlakeswindtruth.com).

David Boleneus

Spokane


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/01/13/commissioners-prevented-poverty/