Bad Hydro

[RedSN]

So who else here is getting bad hydro audits?



We keep getting these damn things saying that we "are using 40% more electricity than our neighbours".
Bullshit.
We have every lightbulb in the house as an LED or CFL. There is only TWO of us in the house. We do not waste energy. How in hell can we be using almost double what our "neighbours" are using?

I hate conspiracy theories .....but....here's what I think is going on: hydro has gone up so much over the last couple of years and Hydro One is using this "Home Energy Report" as a smoke screen to justify why your bill has gone up so much.
"Why has my bill gone up so much?"
"Well because you are using a LOT of electricity!"

I think it's BS.

Who else is wasting electricity?

[newbiestangowner]

agree with you on the "conspiracy theories " to justify why hydro bill is so high, I was thinking the same thing.

I have yet to get one of those, but I am one of those that complain that rates have gone up so much. I pulled last year's and the year before bill and usage was very similar - on one bill for the same time period it was actually less but present bill was $200 more.

I'm waiting for one of those "audits" so I can send it back with my previous hydro bills/ usage so I can say "really?"
but then maybe they will say you're still using more than your neighbors ( knowing we don't see each other hydro bills)

[83 5.0]

Spot on, were with Halton Hydro, and haven't seen these audits before. All I know is I am lucky to be on Natural gas for heating, was only $106 last month. Where as my hydro was around $175. Summer was a nightmare.

[True Blue]

My dad has been getting these audits as well. Same as Don, 2 people living in the house with all light fixtures converted to LED or CFL bulbs, but yet consuming 40% more than the neighbours. So my dad sent them an email, blasting them basically saying "who the fuck are these people that are consuming less?" Never got a response back.

It's all fucking bullshit and all smoke and mirrors. It's meant for those who don't know or understand any better!!!

Just like Power Stream sending me a notice about going with monthly billing. So it's easier to manage a SMALLER bill with the rest of your other billings. BUT the best yet!! They quoted "It's CHEAPER by the dozen!" Seriously?!?! Sure it looks better charging $250/month VS charging $500/every 2 month.

Just sick and tired of the continues BS of us being bent over... WTF!!
Rant over, where the fuck is that bottle of wine at?

[83 5.0]

Halton just moved monthly also, summer was brutal with 2 months hydro and water on one bill. Actually had to ask if they were correct. Must be the reason they switched it uo, less shock value

[ZR]

TORONTO - Ontario ratepayers aren’t pleased at receiving “report cards” from their providers that judge them on their energy consumption and even compare them to their neighbours.
“You never hear them say anything about the cuts they’ll make at hydro to reduce the costs,” says Earl Warren from Kemptville, Ontario. “Now they send out all of these.”
In 2014, Hydro One launched a pilot project to mail out their version of what’s being called a “Home Energy Report.” But now it’s in full swing and as of the latest billing cycle almost half of their approximately 1 million customers are receiving these mailings. And they arrive separately from regular bills and other notices.
The report compares the recipient’s consumption to “efficient neighbours” and “all neighbours” and then gives you a score.
Warren’s report, which he provided to the Sun, rates him as “good” for consuming 667 kWh for the previous month. The “efficient” neighbours clocked in at 607 kWh while the naughty neighbours average 1,150 kWh.
The letter still judges Warren’s comparatively low usage, stating “You used 10% more electricity than your efficient neighbours.”
“I am sure we can figure this out for ourselves by whether your bills goes up or down each month,” Linda Shaheen from Ottawa writes in. “The cost of them buying the paper, hiring someone to do the household usage ‘audits’ and the cost of postage could all be put to better use — perhaps lowering the rates?”
But Hydro One is spinning it a different way.
“The program is fully funded by the Independent Electricity System Operator,” Tiziana Baccega Rosa, senior media relations advisor for Hydro One, explains to me. “Each report costs $2.30 and we send on average four per customer per year — but once a customer appears to have achieved maximum savings, they wouldn’t get a report each quarter.”
Hydro One calculated during the pilot project the mailings saved ratepayers on average $25 per year. This totaled $2.5 million savings to the consumer and 14 million fewer kilowatts used. But they actually have no way of knowing for sure if the mailings actually caused these reductions. They’re just seeing a reduction in usage in the people who are getting the letters and are assuming that the grade school style admonishments are what caused it.
The IESO describes the neighbour comparison even more bizarrely as “social-benchmarking.”
Yet, in their description of the project, which is also used by providers other than Hydro One, recipients do have the ability to opt-out. But, no, it doesn’t mean you get to keep that $2.30 in costs yourself.
“People do like to see how they net out,” Baccega Rosa says, noting they’ve received positive feedback on the report cards.
If that’s true, I certainly haven’t heard it. Ontarians have called in to say it’s condescending and it’s not like they need to be told to bring down their usage. They’re already doing everything they can.
“We don’t turn the lights on,” says another woman who called in to complain about the report cards. “We do the laundry at night. We follow all the rules the government wants us to follow. It’s hard to put food on the table and then we get these report cards. I don’t know what else they expect from us. Do they expect us to live in the dark?”
I’ll leave that question up to Premier Kathleen Wynne to answer.

[ZR]

Smoke and mirrors, damm straight it is. Problem is, you can guarantee they've hoodwinked a bunch of folks with their audit and monthly billing BS.

[RedSN]

my dad sent them an email, blasting them basically saying "who the fuck are these people that are consuming less?"

It says right on the audit: "who are your neighbours? Approximately 100 occupied, nearby homes that are similar in size to yours."


I've got enough heavy equipment in the garage that if I wanted to make the Hydro meter spin I could. The lift is 220, as is the compressor, then there is the welder, commercial garage door opener, shop equipment, and the lights. The lights are all T8 fluorescents. And all that stuff (except the garage door opener) only gets used occasionally.

[True Blue]

What burns me... We are forced to save on energy consumption every which way, do as much as possible on "off peak" hours. Our reward for doing such a great job in consuming less, rates have to increase because of that. WTF!!!

[ZR]

^ You and I have the exact same level of frustration. Learning to save has cost us more under their way of doing business.