Conserve power, They will just charge more.

[razors edge]

Toronto Hydro seeks rate rise

http://www.thestar.com/article/194785

Toronto residents and businesses have taken to the idea of saving electricity – so much so that Toronto Hydro-Electric System Ltd. is looking to raise rates to cover a $10.4 million decrease in revenue.

The subsidiary of Toronto Hydro Corp. said yesterday it has filed an application with the provincial regulator to increase electricity distribution rates by 6.3 per cent as of May 1.

The hike is needed to cover a $10.4 million loss in revenues associated with conservation programs that began in 2005, including last year's summer challenge, which offered hydro customers a 10 per cent credit on their fall bill if they cut electricity use by 10 per cent over two months, according to the utility.

As well, Toronto Hydro-Electric is looking to offset another $4.4 million in extra costs associated with the installation of smart meters in Toronto homes and businesses. The meters allow a utility to record when and how much electricity is used, paving the way for time-of-use pricing.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. The corporate person. No responsibility other than to the bottom line.

It's a pretty f**ked up concept these days.

[razors edge]

6. Yank the damn charters.

Or get up against the wall with them, I say.

[Atman]

2. It's called "capitalism," and it will eat itself alive.

If it doesn't eat the rest of us alive first.

Capitalist's, corporations, must return ever-increasing dividends or profits to their shareholders. Period. It's in every corporate charter in one way or another. It's all about "maximizing shareholder value." Profits and earnings from income must always go UP. If they go down, it means the Board of Directors is doing something "wrong." Therefore, we cannot allow the consumer to reduce his use of our product, no matter what the reason...if they do, we'll simply increase the price.

And the beast eats itself.

.

[razors edge]

4. I call it

monopoly induced slavery.

But what do I know? :shrug:

[Kutjara]

3. Pretty much the Achilles' heel of capitalism in a nutshell.

Publicly traded companies have to grow their share price to attract and keep investors. If the share price doesn't grow, the board loses their jobs. The only ways to increase share prices is to increase profits or "grow the business." The easiest way to increase profits is either revenue growth or margin growth. If people are cutting down on useage (thereby decreasing revenues), companies will compensate by increasing their margins (hiking prices).

There is really no way out of this vicious cycle under unbridled capitalism. The elephant in the room is that the current economic models employed in most developed nations are incompatible with rational environmental husbandry.

[razors edge]

5. The elephant in the room

has left such a backlog of dung removal we will need a tunneling machine to find the door out.

[The Straight Story]

7. I can see one possible rational reason for this

IF their income was not enough to keep the plant operating (wages to be paid, etc).

As long as they were self sufficient I would deny them any rate increases (ok, maybe a second way - they needed the money to build another plant somewhere else, but then it should only be a temp increase to cover the new plant with a decrease to offset/pay back the consumers they taxed to build it).

[razors edge]

8. I am assuming here

that this is a hydroelectric plant, attached to the grid.

Certainly a minimum number of employees and maintenance is required.

If consumption drops, and capacity remains constant with no increase in fuel cost, excess capacity would be routed to other areas without hydro.

Transformers, motors, wires, etc, wear out slower under a decreased load conditions, as the heat of friction induced by electron flow is the primary wear factor in component failure. The constant cost of maintenance argument fails.

All new facilities receive extensive tax breaks to offset costs and entice new jobs, and if your or I were to start up a new power company somewhere, we would have to supply the funding from our own pockets. The PUC would not rape the people from one area for the benefit of others.

[The Straight Story]

9. Well, I did say 'possible' :)

And that was all the shit I could make up that even sounded like a possibly good reason ;)

[razors edge]

10. Sorry Straight.

Didn't mean to come over as an overbearing a--hole, I would be willing to foot a little to expand a good service any day.

I live in Toledo, and my job has intimately shown me the dirty insides of old abandoned coal fired plants. I was one of a select few with access to a one hundred year old facilitie taken out of service and awaiting demo, after seeing how profit trumps safety, cleanliness, and all else for these facilities, I have little faith or good will for any power generator.

Pardon my jade. :pals: