Hydro bill

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Originally Posted by B Wilson

I don't think 300 per month average for heat, air conditioning, hot water and lights is that far off what others in 1800 square foot homes are paying no matter how they do it. Yes it used to half the price and was a lot easier to stomache

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After adding up everything, 300$/month isn't that bad. I'm lucky and young enough to get firewood for pretty cheap. If I had to pay 250$ or 300$/cord, + natural gas and hydro I would be pretty close from 300$/month though.....

Now, when you add tv cable (that I cancelled couple of years ago, thanks Kodi and Netflix), phone and internet bills, sewer/water and town tax it can get pretty bad for some familly. I haven't add a 100% increase in my hydro bill so I can't complain to much yet....

We went to high efficiency propane after our oil furnace was flagged. Our equal billing for propane is $150/month, hydro around $150/month, that is heat, lighting, water heater, $300 total a month on rural pricing. If I had hydro for heat I would be screwed. When we had oil the equal billing was $250/month, the hydro was also $200-$250/month, that is just going from an old oil system with AC motors to propane and DC motors.

We also have a wood pellet stove to bump up the heat when it is really cold, more spot heating but nice dry wood heat. A wood stove is out for us, a side split so the efficiency of a wood stove does not make sense for the cost of installation.

Got the one from the cottage..... $112 to deliver 00000 electricity. $99 delivery and $13 for HST and a .75 regulatory charge with a $0.85 credit for Ontario Clean Energy benefit.

If you averaged it out about 240 a month for heat and hydro.

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Originally Posted by line052

If you averaged it out about 240 a month for heat and hydro.

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That is not very good for natural gas and urban hydro pricing.

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Originally Posted by mosquito

Got the one from the cottage..... $112 to deliver 00000 electricity. $99 delivery and $13 for HST and a .75 regulatory charge with a $0.85 credit for Ontario Clean Energy benefit.

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Me too. I turn the breaker off when I leave. I used zero hydro last month and got a $115 bill. F'cn Cnts.

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Originally Posted by LiveBates

Me too. I turn the breaker off when I leave. I used zero hydro last month and got a $115 bill. F'cn Cnts.

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That's cause they charge a premium for seasonal service even though you don't disconnect for the winter. If you can, change the bill to your spouses name and tell them you live there year round and want to be changed to residental

I pay around $400 a month for hydro and water. We are a big household with 3 adults (mother in law) and 2 kids. I can't say we are efficient users of electricity. I am constantly having to shut off lights behind my kids. Freaking out all the time with them.

My natural gas is above that, probably averages around $90 a month, mainly for heating, but also for cooking.

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Originally Posted by line052

If you averaged it out about 240 a month for heat and hydro.

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Living where we are,we buy from Hydro 1 directly. We,also,have an all natural gas home (cooking,heat,hot water,fireplace,BBQ). We're on regional water and sewer. On the average,our total utilities per month is $235. Being on Natural Gas is saving us a ton. We're time-of-use skrimps,too,but,what's really pissing me off is how they're "adjusting" the TOU to suit their profit margins. Now,having said that,Wynne et al are going ahead with another block sale of Hydro. That will put roughly 70% of Hydro in private hands. They will be free to charge whatever the market will bear. Watch what happens to TOU and conservation policies,then.
I think I posted this info someplace before,but,I know a family with a Beef operation that went completely off grid twenty years ago using Diesel generation wired to the entire farm. It took seven years before it paid for itself in Hydro fees,alone (not including the cost of fuel). They've never looked back.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

Now,having said that,Wynne et al are going ahead with another block sale of Hydro. That will put roughly 70% of Hydro in private hands. They will be free to charge whatever the market will bear. Watch what happens to TOU and conservation policies,then.

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Private or Public owned the rates will still be regulated by the Ontario Energy Board and they will still have to apply to the OEB for rate increases. Enbridge and Union Gas have to apply for rate increases as well. The whole energy sector is regulated. In a nut shell its a regulated profit system where the utilities are only allowed to make a fixed % of profit from retail sales. That is why Enbridge applied for a small rate decrease last fall, they had to share the savings of cheaper natural gas costs with their customers. When their costs increase, they reapply for an increase.

I don't think they will be free to charge what ever the market will bear, if this was true, Enbridge and Union Gas would be charging just a small amount less than what it would cost to heat homes with electricity.