Dear editor,
My wife and I recently received our "time-sensitive" letter from BC Hydro suggesting we need to make a decision by Dec. 1.
You know, the limited number of coins minted type of letter. They even suggest that the government created this Choices Program and, gee, I guess they have to go along with it.
Well, as I understand things, any kind of new Hydro charges have to be approved by the Utilities Commission after a proper hearing with public input or will this be another example of our government bypassing regulatory hearings in order to "fast track" them and bypass the Utilities Commission.
We made a choice to keep our analog meter, which works perfectly. But now Hydro wants us to pay $35 a month above our regular bill for them to .... ensure their (ours) grid works as planned.
Click! Hmmm, my lights still work.
Or could it be that they want/need to implement time-of-use as another layer of charges to help pay off their deficits? Maybe we won't have 26-per-cent increases, as the minister quickly did damage control, but I don't think we'll be seeing any of those so-called savings Hydro bragged about.
Is this coercive fee for billing and meter reading, which was already part of the electric tariff? We can send our meter readings every month at no cost, which will save them 'estimating' our bill.
We will not be sending in this bogus, one-time offer.
Tim Benoit,
Campbell River
Editor's note: Tim Benoit is with the Campbell River Coalition to Stop Smart Meters.