Bad decisions lead to huge BC Hydro rate increase
BC Hydro announced this month that they will be raising residential rates by 50% over the next five years. Their need for revenue is so great that they have applied to the BC Utilities Commission for permission to implement the first increase on April 1, before the Commission has even had an opportunity to conduct its oversight work. And that’s no April fool’s joke.
Without an approved rate increase on April 1, BC Hydro says it will run a deficit of $320 million in 2011/12. Before we attack BC Hydro for this fiasco, it’s important to understand why we, as the rate-paying public, are facing such a deplorable situation. And on closer examination all paths lead to bad provincial government decisions.
BC Hydro coffers have been raided at an unprecedented rate by this government. A mere two years ago, the province removed about $355 million from BC Hydro dividends. In 2011/12 they’ll take $611 million. That’s a whopping increase of $256 million over previous years. It is equal to 80% of BC Hydro’s projected deficit for the coming year. Not removing those millions would negate the main argument for the increase to your electricity bill. Where does that unprecedented cash grab go?
Directly into the province’s general revenue, to pay for more bad decisions. In the recent budget the Liberals announced an increase to the contingency fund by an extra $150 million so the new Premier has maximum ‘flexibility’. We are being hit in the pocketbook so the Premier-designate can have another $150 million on hand to dispose of as she wishes this coming fiscal year. That is not good financial management.
The list of bad decisions goes on but the point remains. Hydro bills have become another form of general taxation for this government’s coffers but no matter if you are on a fixed income, struggling as a single parent, or a household bringing in a six-digit reveune, we all pay the same rate for electricity. And for low and middle income earners who have little choice but to use electricity as a heating source, for instance, that flies in the face of fair and just taxation.