P.E.I. home and business owners are facing rate increases of more than seven per cent for electricity costs next year if Maritime Electric receives approval for changes in its basic rate structure.
Maritime Electric filed a Basic Rate Application for 2009 on Thursday with the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.
If approved, the increases would not take place until April 1, 2009.
The forecast combined effect of the proposed 2009 basic rate increase and the forecasted energy supply cost increases for 2009 is 7.46 per cent for residential customers (based on 650 kWhs/month), 7.47 per cent for commercial customers and 8.25 per cent for large industrial customers.
The proposed increase is based on usage and is 100 per cent related to energy price increases, said the company in a press release.
"This has been a tough year for many of our customers," said Fred O'Brien, president and CEO for Maritime Electric.
"Customers' bills continue to be impacted as electricity costs are influenced by volatility in the market, increases in fossil fuels and increases in overall energy supply costs."
To assist customers in learning more about energy efficiency and opportunities to reduce energy consumption, Maritime Electric has updated their website at www.maritimeelectric.com which includes low cost/no cost energy solutions, options to reduce energy consumption and a new energy calculator to help customers better understand electricity usage.
Maritime Electric seeks rate increases for 2009
Maritime Electric seeks rate increases for 2009
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Comments
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- Concerned
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:41:26
I guess it's a good thing minimum wage went up.
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- government
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:41:08
minimum wage only went up yesterday, and were already being informed of yet another increase. i doubt the extra 40 bucks a week will cover the oil and lights. and gas. or if you do not own your home the 3% increase on rent, or if you do not heat your house the 9%
and it was only min. wage that went up. did everyones wage go up a quarter? will people who were promoted last year who make 8 bucks now make the same as the entry level min wage erners? cant the government build more wind farms? create jobs, and lower power bills? -
- Grandma
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:34:58
So, Mr. O'Brien, you say This has been a tough year for many of our customers, You already know that, I am sure because you are president and CEO of the company. Yet you think you can justify sticking it to us again when you MUST hear about seniors and other low income residents of PEI having to deal with higher oil bills, higher rents, and higher cost of gas. I wonder if you have any conscience. I think you will be shutting off a lot of electricity this winter unless the regulatory group tells you to go pound sand. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you really want to help the people, instead of telling them to visit a website on how to cut back on power bills, I suggest you cut back on your own salary.
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- Ski
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:33:26
Anyone want to create a peoples union, drop me a line... sick of this crap, the poor people never stand together.. I wrote a long message about this in a different post about gas and the moderator would not post it...
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- Bob
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:24:07
Hydro in Oct '04 - about 9.6 cents/kwh.
Hydro in Oct' 08 - about 15.3 cents/kwh.
Additional increases: about $2 in service charges betwen 04 and 08.
Net effect: about a 60% increase in hydro costs in four years or 15% each year net effect on the consumer.
BUT ... Maratime Electric updated their website so all's good. -
- nothing on these guys
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:23:01
Maritime Electric makes organized crime look like a Day Care Center. They are making record profits and are greedy enough to try and bleed the public dry. That's what happens without competition.
What hapens when the public has nothing left to pay? Rates per KWH have increased 50 percent since Aug 07
if a 50 per cent increase is not enough for these blood suckers in one year when will it end if you disagree with these figures check you bills since Aug 07. -
- Deb
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:15:46
Some thoughts on price gouging and monopolies: On Mergers and Monopolies: http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/CIR/913-e.htm. Competition legislation has existed in Canada since 1889. The terms merger and monopoly were first incorporated into the Combines Investigation Act in 1910, while the concept of combines (mergers and monopolies) that are likely to operate to the detriment of or against the interest of the public was introduced in 1919. These terms, however, which also appeared in the Combines Investigation Act of 1923, remained undefined until 1935, when amendments to the CIA introduced a common definition for both. Finally, in 1960 the definition of merger was made distinct from the definition of monopoly, with the concept of detriment to the public incorporated into both.
A coercive monopoly has very few incentives to keep prices low and may deliberately price gouge consumers by curtailing production. Also, according to economist Murray Rothbard, a coercive monopolist will tend to perform his service badly and inefficiently. Exclusive control of electricity supply due to government imposed utility status is a coercive monopoly, because users have no choice but to pay the price that the monopolist demands. Consumers would not have an alternative to purchase electricity from a cheaper competitor, because the wires running into their homes belong to the monopolist. Advocates of free markets say that the only feasible way that a business could close entry to a field and therefore be able to raise prices free of competitive forces, i.e. be a coercive monopoly, is with the aid of government in restricting competition. It is argued that without government preventing competition, the firm must keep prices low because if they sustain unreasonably high prices, they will attract others to enter the field to compete. -
- Dirk
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:15:15
This is outrageous and one would hope that this increase is NOT approved!
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- DL
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:13:54
hummm....I wonder how much of the so-called .....increases in overall energy supply costs.....is due to the financing of the new high-capacity lines being put in along the confed trail just west of Summerside....you know....the lines no one wants along the trail (except our so-called ENVIRONMENT minister)....the lines Fortis said would not impact rates to Islanders....the lines that are to be used to move the generated power off island.
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- desilverwolf
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:12:18
Received full nine percent rent increase notice today. Electricity goes up every month and, now, we already know it is to go even higher in 2009. Read today that thirteen thou tax dollars went to put a few chairs outdoors. Rights of the tobacco buyer are tumbling head over heels down the celler stairs when they haven't begun to heal from the last concussion. It seems the Immigrant program has gotten its white shirt a little bit soiled. Oh, my, aren't we the lucky ones !!!!!!!!!
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- Andrew
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:11:06
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Maritime Electric is owned by Fortis, a large corporation that requires around 7% profit margins.
Maritime Electric has monopoly status.
Why must electricity generated from wind farms near Tignish be exported to the United States, and electricity imported from N.B. nuclear power plant? I presume peak generation from wind turbines is much greater than the trough when no one is using electricity?
If that were true then why is PEI only at around 15% powered by wind turbines? There is still 85% available to be replaced.
I think they are in the business of unnecessarily moving electricity around to create higher revenues.
I hope to see more communities setting up their own wind turbines so they do not have to fully rely on a monopolistic corporation who get 7% price increases every year. With low interest rates it should be cheaper for a community to take out a $200,000 loan to set up a couple wind turbines which should pay for themselves in 10 years. -
- Head Shaler
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:08:35
Rent up 9% (just got notice today), Power up 7.46%, gas constantly rising, food costs rising....
The low cost of living we keep hearing about is getting less low. I'm lucky to have gotten a 3% increase in pay this year, and I'm still poorer than I was last year. Imagine how far behind people are who got no increase. -
- Chester Field
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:05:10
I can't believe that this is a surprise to anybody....anybody could see this coming since December. That's what happens when you rely on oil or New Brunswick for your power?
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- Dont
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:55:32
All the POLITICIANS dont give a rats behind...there hand is in EVERY cookie jar.....I'm outta here....Moving out west!
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- Steve
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:52:39
It is time for all Public Utilities be bought by government and run as not for profit corporations!!!!!
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- petr
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:49:09
Once again...Step up to the plate Mr.Ghiz-unless of course you have shares here too!
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- Don't believe the Hype
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:46:48
Well let's see, they have to apply to IRAC. The last time IRAC said no to them was.....NEVER! They already adjust the electricity rates on a monthly basis. I bet the shareholders will be the only ones laughing at this.
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- Robber barons
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:45:37
If anyone cares to check their bill, the rate has increased from 11.5 cents per kWh to 15.5 cents per kWh in the past 11 months. They have increased the rate every single month, even in months where the input costs went down. The increase in the past 11 months is greater than 30%. And now they want an additional 7% If IRAC has any regulatory power, why are they not stepping up to this?
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- frank
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:40:19
The problem with wind energy is that it can never provide 100% of our electrical needs. The wind isn't always blowing, so we need to have a backup source of power (eg, importing power from NB). My understanding of the situation with selling to the US is we have to estimate how much power can be generated each day with the wind on PEI. If we go over the estimate, it gets sold to the US. If we generate less than the estimate, we have to get more power from NB. We can't just ask NB at the last minute for a bunch of excess power that they were not anticipating. The Province hopes to increase our wind power capacity fivefold over the next five years though. We currently generate almost 100MW and the province is hoping to increase that to 500MW. Hopefully that will mean more clean energy for Islanders.
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- Billy
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:40:07
The cost of living is rising everywhere. Everything but a mortgage is pretty ridiculous here on the island.
This is exactly why monopolies are bad.
15.5 cents/kwh is high enough right now. Even California isn't this high! -
- government
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:37:08
here is a story that the journal in summerside is following today
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?sid=176859&sc=118
this guy is GIVING his extra power to maritime electric. FREE. -
- Deb
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:37:00
I guess our politicians never played Monopoly before where the first things you want to buy and keep are the Utilities. They want to put our rates up 9.4% here in Dartmouth and, apparently, they had an agreement with their high end customers and homeowners. Homeowners did not agree to this increase. No one asked me or other homeowners.
