Electricity prices and associated costs will soon be skyrocketing in Ontario. No doubt about that.
According to a recent column by the Star’s Tyler Hamilton (Why paying more for electricity is good for you), the new strategy is to deliberately increase ‘dirty’ power costs to force consumers to use less:
…How do jurisdictions with more expensive electricity cope? It’s simple: they use less of it. That’s the remarkable thing about higher prices. It’s an efficient way to squeeze waste out of the system.
“People would be surprised at how powerful that pricing lever is, and frankly how little the price increase needs to be to deal with climate change,” says Heintzman.
Homeowners, businesses, governments and industrial facilities will be motivated to offset rising costs by doing a better job of managing their energy use and investing in energy-reducing retrofits...
So basically you will be forced to go green and you will like it.
And remember Dion’s Green Shift where some of the money derived from the carbon tax would be diverted into maintaining ‘social justice’? Well it seems that Dion was ahead of his time:
…Some will need help. A new $650-million industrial efficiency program designed by the Ontario Power Authority is an example of how government can ease the transition. The program, open to 60 of Ontario’s largest industrial players, will pay up to 70 per cent of the cost of an energy-saving project. Each project aims to reduce energy use by 30 per cent.
Likewise, there are both federal and provincial programs to help homeowners lower their bills through energy retrofits in advance of rising energy prices. The trick is to make sure low-income and fixed-income consumers get support through rebates and changes to the tax structure.
If it all sounds eerily familiar to the Green Shift plan proposed by Stéphane Dion, former leader of the federal Liberal party, that’s because it is.
Dion’s failure to sell the plan doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea. It means he failed to communicate it properly or the population, confused by opposition fear-mongering, just wasn’t ready for it…
So are we ready now to have power costs and taxes jacked up so that we can be forced to save Mother Earth and appease our social conscience as a bonus? This is a left-wing dream scenario and it is about to happen.
And what was the problem when Dion tried this? Was it the message that Canadians were against or was it the messenger? Or both?
And why would we be ready to accept it now as we try to recover from the recession?
Of course that would assume that we had a choice.
* * * *
Related
No payoff in off-peak power conservation – Star (re: ‘Smart’ meters)
And from the general realm of Environmental Propaganda:
Time to fight back against oilsands propaganda – Sun
‘No facts, please. We’re British’ – Edmonton Journal
North and Booker on Amazongate: A billion dollar cash cow – Watts up with that? (H/T Bruce)
No matter what electricity I use, the bill keeps getting higher with “delivery to you” charges….”debt reduction” etc.
We could have no electricity going through our meter and still end up with a big bill (in Ontario). Ask anyone that shuts it off to go south for the winter.
Ruth – And just wait til that HST kicks in.
McGuinty has almost pushed Ontario over that cliff from where it will never come back and the lame brained residing in the GTA have allowed him to do it.
It’s a sad thing for Ontario and Canada that these Liberal idiots have decimated a once great province.
Christians have carried the brunt of the “don’t push your morality on us” accusation for several decades now. These strong-arm tactics Joanne describes are far better examples of imposing morality.
We all know the phrase coined by Liberals, “Tory times are tough times”. How many of those “tough times” have come when a Conservative government gets elected after a Liberal romp?
It will happen again in Ontario if the people decide to get off their butts and boot out the Liberals, it’ll be tough times cleaning up their mess and the vicious circle continues.
off topic
I was channel surfing last night and caught about one half hour of the doha debates
very scary debate between hamas and fatah re liberation of Palestine from occupation of European Jews who were installed after ww2 and occupy the land that belongs to Palestine
audience young University students
the students felt they need to replace the present hamas and fatah leaders as they have failed in their
conquest to defeat Israel and reclaim the land for Palestine
the time line 10 years
I feel mideast crisis is reaching a boiling point and may overtake health care debate in USA
fh
Liz you are so right. And this all ties into a comment you had on a previous post:
“McGuinty the Meter Man,is now whacking “smart” meters on all homes to conserve power. In doing so he calls it “flexible time-of-use pricing”. Yeah flexible, use it in the daylight hours and pay dearly or stay up at night and lose sleep, use too little and the price will have to rise to pull in sufficient funds. It happened in this neck of the woods with water meters, the people conserved to save money and they upped the price, penalizing people for doing their bidding.”
So true. We’ll get the shaft no matter what.
You had a chance to get rid of him last election, but chose to re-elect him. Ontario deserves McGuinty. Looks good on you. Enjoy your fate. This is why Canada needs a Majority Conservative Government, or all of Canada will end up like this.
And all just in time for Earth Day.
Too bad that Ontario may be forced into celebrating Earth Year instead of Earth Day if the Liberals keep jacking up prices.
BC has gone to a 2 tier usage system that gives a base rate then a higher rate for usage over the base. My bills have definitely gone up or so it seems. When I reviewed my usage, the kwh actually have gone down.
Our Strata just spent $2500 on new lighting and fire exit signs, however, we now get a rebate of $500 from Hydro and should have a capital payout in about 4 years through savings.
Biggest controversy in BC is that Hydro hasn’t built any capacity in years and their suggestion of “run-of-the-river” small hydro plants has the eco crowd in a tizzy. This will be a never ending story and looks like Ontario will be reading the same novel as well.
So rather than cut expenses, Ontarians face increased taxes….nothing new when a Liberal government is in charge.
Tax and spend.
So what ‘perks’ are Ontarians willing to give up so as their taxes don’t increase?
What party would be elected campaigning on reduced services?
Sadly, from where I sit, this all means that Ontario will be a have not province, joining Quebec in bleeding the ROC
by golly, here’s an example:
”Toronto police $100K club continues to grow
In an election year, politicians must have courage to question wage spiral, says former budget chief”
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/police/article/782892–toronto-police-100k-club-continues-to-grow
Who is going to say no, mcGuinty ? LOL
until someone says NO MORE money for you,
Ontarians will pay and pay using ‘green’ as the perfect place to hide.
This thread prompted me to pull out my Hydro fill, and review my past bills, as well as the cute pile of paperwork the meter-man left with us when he installed our shiny new “Smart” meter about a month ago.
Looking at the 24 hr. rates clock, simple math to determine the weighted average, indicates that consumption rates here in S.Ont. will increase as follows:
Summer: 17% approx. and Winter: 20% approx. Slap on the 8% HST, and we will be looking at increases in the 25-28% range.
We are already practicing conservation measures, so I don’t see my bill being reduced much by further “behavioral changes” that Mr. McGuinty is using to push the Green agenda.
As a senior, I am very very worried about what is happening to our fixed costs.
O/T but related … Our recent car insurance renewal increased by 10%; our home insurance just went up 40% (by upping our deductible I got it “down” to 24% increase).
HST will increase by 8% many other areas where we have very little opportunity to reduce useage. Eg. natural gas to heat our home, and gas for our car to get from A to B.
The Bank of Canada continues to target an annual inflation rate of 2%. To this I say … “Good Luck with that”.
The green movement is all a ruse that many well meaning people have fallen for hook, line and sinker.
What it really is is: Government for the Government, by the Government.
It’s another attempt by the supremacist totalitarians to slowly strangle freedom and democracy from everyone but themselves.
Another Dark Ages is in the offering if they are not stopped.
Liberal McGuinty + AGW + MSM: Green child snatchers.
The vicious, evil end-game of the Red-Greens: kidnap our children.
…-
“Kids get the green message”
“Getting kids to go green might be a cinch — if you get to them early in the game.”
http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2010/03/20/13302031.html
…-
Al Gore’s Weather (AGW): Trust me to break more snowfall records.
…-
“Storm Could Make This Winter All-Time Snowiest in Dallas (Texas).”
“The snow that fell alone on Saturday set a few daily snowfall records. These records are listed below with the previous one in parenthesis.
–Kansas City, Mo.: 7.3 inches (2.8 inches from 1892)
–Wichita Falls, Texas: 1.6 inches (Trace from 1970)
–Dallas, Texas: 1.2 inches (0.4 of an inch from 1970)
Saturday’s snow in Dallas brings the winter total to 17.0 inches. The winter of 1977-78 remains the city’s all-time snowiest with 17.6 inches. After today’s snow totals are measured in Dallas, this winter should likely break that record.”
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/26432/storm-could-make-this-winter-a.asp
Dion failed to communicate? No people got it just fine. A bad idea needs to be communicated crookedly. “Higher prices will SAVE you money.” Liberals have never been ashamed of bold faced lying. The media is in their pocket after all..
You can always make your own power. That is how you short circuit the leftard wet dream of total control. get yourself an engine from the junk yard and rig it up to generator in your garage. Make it charge a battery for on demand consumption. You could use dyed diesel that the farmers use and nobody has to ever know. Heck, sell power to your neighbors. Convert your home power plant to natural gas and beat the greenies at their own game. Supplement it with solar panels and mini windmills and lets see the big government green socialists come and shut you down.
Fleeing earth? Why?
Earth is a good friend/buddy of the Red-Greens.
…-
“Volcano erupts in Iceland, hundreds flee
REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – A volcano erupted in the south of Iceland overnight, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate the area and diverting flights after authorities declared a local state of emergency, officials said on Sunday”
…-
“Organizers hope one billion will participate in Earth Hour
Vancouver Sun”
(googlenews)
OTTAWA — One billion is a big number. But that’s how many people around the world organizers are hoping will turn out their lights for Earth Hour, 2010.
Earth Hour is a global initiative by the World Wildlife Fund in which businesses, governments, communities and individuals are asked to turn off their lights at 8:30 p.m. local time next Saturday — March 27 — for one hour in an effort to take action on climate change.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Organizers+hope+billion+will+participate+Earth+Hour/2707039/story.html
Via wattsupwiththat;
Appearing in the Booker column is an account of how the “conservation” group WWF hopes to turn Amazonian trees into billions of dollars, all in the name of saving the planet. The background briefing on which Booker relied is posted below, detailing how the rainforests are to become a monstrous cash-making machine.
The Amazon – a “green gold-rush”
The WWF and other green campaign groups talking up the destruction of the Amazon rainforests are among those who stand to make billions of dollars from the scare. This “green gold-rush” involves taking control of huge tracts of rainforest supposedly to stop them being chopped down, and selling carbon credits gained from carbon dioxide emissions they claim will be “saved”.
Backed by a $30 million grant from the World Bank, the WWF has already partnered in a pilot scheme to manage 20 million acres in Brazil. If their plans get the go-ahead in Mexico at the end of the year, the forests will be worth over $60 billion in “carbon credits”, paid for by consumers in “rich” countries through their electricity bills and in increased prices for goods and services.
The prospect of a billion-dollar windfall explains the sharp reaction to the “Amazongate” scandal, in which the IPCC falsely claimed that up to 40 percent of the rainforest could be at risk from even a slight drop in rainfall.
Here, the IPCC was caught out again making unsubstantiated claims based on a WWF report. But unlike the “Glaciergate” affair where its claim that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035 was conceded to be an “error”, the IPCC stood firm on its Amazon claim, stating that the assertion was “correct”. What makes the difference is that there is no serious money locked into melting glaciers. Amazonian trees, however, are potentially worth billions.
In standing its ground, the IPCC was strongly supported by the WWF, and by Daniel Nepstad, a senior scientist from the US Woods Hole Research Centre. Relying on an assiduously fostered reputation as a leading expert on the effects of climate change in the Amazon rainforests, Nepstad – who works closely with the WWF – posted on the Centre’s website a personal statement endorsing “the correctness of the IPCC’s statement”. Bizarrely, his own research failed in any way to substantiate the claim.
Dion’s plan did’nt work because he tried to pull it off on the entire nation.Canadians are’nt that gullible but if he had been able to apply it to Ontario only he’d still be king o’ Canada.The voters of Ontario are their own worst enemies and it won’t end until they stop electing Lefties with their punitive policies.
The Red-Greens’ Socialist Grecian formula.
“paidomazema (gathering of children)”.
“faceless homogeneous automatons”.
“Even worse, Greeks now silently countenance genocide in the form of widespread, easily obtainable abortion on demand perpetrated against hundreds of thousands of innocent unborn Greeks. A genocide infinitely more efficient than anything the Turkish or Nazi occupiers could have devised.”
This is the end-game of the socialist Green Shift-Separatist Coalition.
…-
“Greek Dependence Day
From the desk of Stavros Nassis on Tue, 2010-03-16 09:01
This month marks the anniversary of Greek independence. If the Greek patriots of 1821, who fought a life or death struggle against the vast Ottoman Empire could see the present state of affairs, I am sure they would be crying bitter tears. One hundred eighty nine years later their progeny have squandered the very freedoms that they fought so hard for.
Not much has changed since the days of the Sultan’s rule. The average Greek still lives in a world dominated by bribes and nepotism in which he must hide as much of his income as possible to avoid the onerous taxes. Before independence, the Turks used to kidnap the strongest and smartest Greek children to be trained as the Empire’s shock troops, the Janissaries. Nowadays, Greek children are the victims of another type of insiduous paidomazema (gathering of children) that takes the most talented and promising youngsters away from Greece because they have no future there. Even worse, Greeks now silently countenance genocide in the form of widespread, easily obtainable abortion on demand perpetrated against hundreds of thousands of innocent unborn Greeks. A genocide infinitely more efficient than anything the Turkish or Nazi occupiers could have devised. Greeks have traded dhimmitude status for a European citizenship that seeks to transform them into faceless homogeneous automatons who must rely on the state to take care of them from cradle to grave. During the Ottoman oppression Greeks were able to retain their culture and language by clinging to their Orthodox faith. Within the European Union however, that faith is being replaced by a corrosive imposed secularism whose new twin Gods, global warming and multiculturalism are intent on destroying the very things that preserved Greekness.
To make matters worse, the EU has foisted upon unsuspecting Greeks a monetary system that encourages a standard of living that is unsustainable and unaffordable because it is based on borrowing.”
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4357
You’re right Chucker! Perhaps this is why the federal Liberals have gone silent on their regifted Green Shift plan. They knew that Dalton could force feed Ontario this and get away with it.
Speaking of “getting away with it”….is he?
What’s Tim Hudak’s plan to reverse this glut of a cash grab? Could he just be lying in wait and letting Dalton get himself up to his wahoo in our money with no clear plan on how to account for its spending to the people whose tax money it is in the first place? If the PCs are launching an offensive it’s not clear to me.
(You had to know I wouldn’t hang on simply sticking it to Dalton. If there isn’t another plan being floated by the provincial opposition what’s left but to roll over and open our wallets?)
Why are the school boards and government agencies taking to the lawn at Queen’s Park about how much this is going to cost THEM to provide basic services? Coupled as Joanne mentioned above with the HST we’re sitting ducks.
Just watched Taber/Oliver on Question period….LibDippers are waffling on Parliament is supreme and abortion must go global.
Idiots. Another and another and another ‘get Harper’ back firing on them.
If memory serves me I seem to recall that when Klein was deregulating the electricity rates here in Alberta supposedly to increase supply, Ontario went the other way and froze and then subsidized rates. I guess the chickens are coming home to roost as you can’t simply subsidize what is not generated.
Wilson, if the Liberals and Dipps want to push for abortion it’ll be their baby. This PM has said the issue of abortion will not be on the agenda of his government. It’s the same old poop, they’re at a loss for how to GET Stephen Harper so they’re enacting a last refuge.
Abortion may be something that will eventually have to be decided by a vote of the people. Given we have Trudeau’s Charter nothing is sacred any more anyway and anything of this nature will be more money for the courts. No law is the final word.
Prepare for Earth Hour?
…-
TimesUK:
“That has to be on the table at the moment,” Dave McGarvie, senior lecturer at the Volcano Dynamics Group of the Open University, said. “And it is a much nastier piece of work.”
Icelanders agree. “This could trigger Katla, which is a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage,” Pall Einarsson, from the University of Iceland, said.
Tremors around Eyjafjallajokull were first recorded in early March, but precise prediction of volcanic eruption is difficult, even with the high-tech equipment available to Icelandic geologists.
Now that it has happened the only basis for prediction is history — and that does not look good.
“Eyjafjallajokull has blown three times in the past thousand years,” Dr McGarvie told The Times, “in 920AD, in 1612 and between 1821 and 1823. Each time it set off Katla.” The likelihood of Katla blowing could become clear “in a few weeks or a few months”, he said.
Iceland is built on a volcanic rock on the Atlantic’s mid-oceanic ridge and it has grown used to eruptions. The southern village of Vik, close to the current eruption, has for centuries had an escape plan in which everybody runs up to the church, which is built on high ground. They know that if Katla erupts flooding will follow.
The island’s worst eruption in modern times was in 1783, when the Laki volcano blew its top. The lava shot to heights of 1.4 kilometres and more than 120 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide was released into the atmosphere.
A quarter of the island’s population died in the resulting famine and it transformed the world, creating Britain’s notorious “sand summer”, casting a toxic cloud over Prague, playing havoc with harvests in France — sometimes seen as a contributory factor in the French Revolution — and changing the climate so dramatically that New Jersey recorded its largest snowfall and Egypt one of its most enduring droughts.”
“Iceland prepares for second, more devastating volcanic eruption”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7070239.ece
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/03/21/icelandic-fissure-eruptuon-triggers-worries/#comment-349520
Attempting to maximize future equalization payments by driving the Ontario economy into the ground is the only rational explanation for what McGuinty is doing. Next you can look forward to a decrease of taxpayers. As we found out in Sask under NDP rule, ridding the province of successful businesses, young people and working families is either the intent or natural consequence of left-wing policies.
The Star article was typical. All sunshine, unicorns about how less money in your pocket is good for you. Little or no discussion of the problems and failures:
-Being more like Europe? Nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. The Greek economic collapse and subsequent social unrest is just the start of things to come. Besides, the government subsidized solar and wind energy market has been a failure. Germany, Dennmark and Spain have all found that green jobs are at the expense of other jobs. As well, the generous green subsidies are too expensive and are being phased out. Besides, they just switched energy sources instead of conservation.
“The proliferation of windmills is driving the power sector’s dependence on natural gas. While Germany’s wind power production between 1990 and 2007 rose from zero to 40 TWh, Germany’s gas consumption for power generation more than doubled in the same period (from 36 to 75 TWh)… Wind power is clearly not reducing Europe’s dependence on imported fuel.”
Germany – http://cfact.eu/2009/10/26/germanys-high-solar-subsidies-under-fire/
Spain -http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a2PHwqAs7BS0
Denmark-http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/05/11/the-myth-of-the-danish-green-energy-miracle.aspx
Smart meters? Nowhere in NA has smart meters lowered electricity costs. It help government’s bottom line, not yours.
Funding infrastructure? Sure just like health fees only go to health care and gas tax goes only goes to roads.
The only silver lining is that the McGuinty Green Disaster is Ontario’s problem, Dion’s Green Shaft would have affected all of Canada.
The only silver lining is that the McGuinty Green Disaster is Ontario’s problem
Except for those equalization payments you mentioned earlier…
LC Bennett – You said it! “The Star article was typical. All sunshine and unicorns about how much less money in your pocket is good for you.”
This is becoming a common theme for Ontario. From the delivery room to the morgue the LibDippers want your loyalty, your kids, your sick and your elderly. What they do with them is none of your business but keep on forking over that money because the state knows what’s best for us all.
Those who don’t have kids should be very thankful that they don’t have to put up with this being infused into the “new” curriculum. It’s a page right out of the socialist manifesto.
Higher unemployment, higher taxes, higher expenses for everything – how far down do the people of Ontario want our standard of living to go? Corrupt Liberals look down their noses in contempt at us, yet they keep getting votes?
O/T but a heads up for all you Monty Solberg fans (don’t know if anyone mentioned it prev)..Monty will be filling in for Rex Murphy on Cross Country Check Up today! What hit the cbc that a former Cons MP would get the nod????
True, Joanne. I’m hoping that the Wildrose Party will force the Alberta government to start playing hardball and get inter-provincial welfare reduced. As with any welfare program, money for free reduces incentive to improve. During Sask’s equalization days the NDP was careful not to be too successful out of fear of losing federal money. I can live with per capita transfer payments but other than that a province should sink or swim based on the quality of its government.
Richo, the intrusion into family life is, IMO, the creepiest part of the social justice crusaders. Government at all levels needs to learn to back off and quit attempting to micromanaging our lives.
I guess Obama can just pull a Chretien line such as what’s a few trillion.
Quite amazing really. PM Harper gets trashed for having a deficit and trying to reduce it, and Obama gets praised for having one and increasing it, all by the same supposed journalists.
p.s. Just sent you an email you will find interesting Joanne.