Maritime Electric pleads case today for rate increase TERESA WRIGHT The Guardian
Maritime Electric will plead its case today for an increase in electricity rates at a public hearing of the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.
Maritime Electric is seeking a rate hike of 7.5 per cent, which will be phased in over the next year, if it gets approval.
The utility says a $40-million pool of debt was incurred early in 2008 when oil prices were skyrocketing.
But Islanders didn’t see the effects of these increases on their bills because Maritime Electric uses a formula called the Energy Cost Adjustment Mechanism.
This formula helps maintain steady electricity rates throughout the year, but also means the utility has to swallow a lot of the volatility of the market.
But many Islanders have responded in anger and frustration at the idea of higher electricity rates.
Most people don’t seem to understand why bills have not gone down as the cost of fuel has dropped.
But this public frustration stems from a lack of understanding about the way the utility’s pricing system works, said Mark Lanigan of IRAC.
The commission has been receiving comments and submissions from the public for the last few months since the proposed rate adjustment was made public.
“The comments we’re getting show people don’t understand why electricity rates have gone up so much,” Lanigan said.
“People don’t understand the fact that they’re paying for energy that they’ve already used and they just cannot grasp a cost adjustment mechanism.”
Those who have made submissions to the commission will have the opportunity to present to IRAC and question Maritime Electric on the proposed rate hike during the public meeting Tuesday.
The government of P.E.I. and three other individuals will have this intervenor status to be able to ask direct questions of the utility.
Lanigan added the commission will likely make its final decision on whether to approve the rate increase within the next month.
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Ed from Charlottetown from PEI writes: This is getting beyond rediculous. IRAC is rubber stamping rate increases. ECAM gives all the protection to Maritime Electric and none to the Consumer.
The Dec-Jan 2007 rate was 10.68c/kwh. The Nov-Dec 2008 rate was 16.04c/kwh.
A Survey of Canadian Electricity Bills — Effective May 1, 2008 showed we paid 39.1% more than Moncton and 39.8% more than Halifax. This is a far cry from the guarantee we had tying PEI rates to within 10% of NB rates, that we had before the Binn's government gave it up.
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Screwed Over from PEI writes: From looking at my last bill which increased by $70 compared to my normal bills I thought Maritime Electric already increased their rates. I have talked to a few people who have said their last bill was $50-$70 more than usual, how can Maritime Electric or IRAC explain this?
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city resident from P.E. writes: We all pretty know how the outcome will be with this request with Maritime Electric and our famous IRAC. We will all have larger bills as it has been increasing nearly every month !!!!!!!
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reader from pei writes: So when was the last time that me elactric bill was lowered? I ,as alot of Islanders can Grasp the concept of world oil markets and your cost adjustment mechanism. This will not help Islanders who cant pay these high bills. What are the share holders of Maritime Electric doing to help these people.
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Nita from PE writes: WOW this is crazy,Guess we will be going back to the Oil Lamps Soon, Don't know what we ll do if ours goes any Higher? Its now up to $500.00 & $600.00 and all we have is a 3 bedroom home.How much high can it go? Going Back to the OLD DAYS are coming sooner then PPl except... workin for $8.00 per hr and having Bills like this coming in ??????
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IRAC Needs overhaul from charlottetown, pei writes: Maritime Electric is in the drivers seat at these hearings. They are pleading their case, with their facts, their figures and their high priced lawyers and/or employees. IRAC is made up mostly of ex-political types appointed by what ever government is recently elected. Who represents the consumer?
Yes, we can make presentations, if so motivated. But this individual response can never be equal to what Maritime Electric can muster. What is needed is a regulatory agency that acts with a reasonable but clear bias for the consumer. This would bring some sort of equality to the process. Possibly we need an office of Energy Ombudsman to deal with all these energy issues, which IRAC does not do and cannot do, because of it's weak mandate, and flawed process. Either revamp the process of close it down!
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Sherri from PE writes: Formula my eye!! Everywhere I turn I hear recession and job loss and rising prices in everything. This minor break in fuel prices doesn't mean much when everyone else is gouging the eyes out of families. The rich get richer and the poor are suffering. I think the rates for electricity should be going down. So they want to hike the price to make up for the money that was spent for repairs and what not....C'MON!!! It's not fair that we have to suffer the poor because of a service they provide and are responsible for....from start to storms. Just because grocery stores might not have made the profits they wanted last year does it make sense that they increase the prices? I think not because food is a necessity....the same as electricity. Get a backbone IRAC and represent the Island not the rich moneymakers. You can't tell me Maritime Electric didn't make good money last year. They made lots just off the people I know. Some of my friends have even lost their lights for a period of time because they can't afford to keep up with everything.
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D.J. from P.E.I. writes: FIRST OF ALL OIL IS AT A FIVE YEAR LOW AND SINKING...I THINK IT IS TIME THAT MARITIME ELECTRIC TRIMMED THE FAT AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN...CEO'S MAKING BONE HEAD DECISIONS AND GETTING A BIG BONUS...AS FOR IRAC I CANNOT BELIEVE THE DIFFERENT TWISTS AND EXCUSES THESE GUYS COME UP WITH EVERY TIME THEY ARE TOLD BY OIL COMPANIES AND LARGE CORPERATIONS WHAT TO DO...ONCE AGAIN...OIL IS AT A FIVE YEAR LOW...IRAC HAS TO FACTOR IN HOW MUCH EXTRA MARITIME ELECTRICD IS GETTING PAID NOW COMPARED TO FIVE YEARS AGO...RATES SHOULD BE DECREASING!!!
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First rate from PEI writes: Why is it that my electricity rate has gone up 19.5 percent over the past 8 months to approx. 15.7 cents per KWH whereas everywhere else (except PEI) is paying approx 6.8 cents per KWH? We're being held at the mercy of a monopolistic electric company. That 40 million in dept sounds like the exact same number they used when we had the storm that rolled through the island last year and all the polls were knocked down.
Fortis made money last year, why not use some of the huge profit gained last year and put it back into the debt you've created for yourselves. I know that before the storms last year your maintenance schedule for replacing polls far sub-par at best.
That's it, just keep ripping us off. One of these days you'll wonder why you're out of business.
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Don't believe the Hype from PE writes: “The comments we’re getting show people don’t understand why electricity rates have gone up so much,” Lanigan said. “People don’t understand the fact that they’re paying for energy that they’ve already used and they just cannot grasp a cost adjustment mechanism.”
Well, this sound like the decision has been made, and now they are just going through the motions. This is a statement right from an employee of IRAC.
Well, let me tell you what I do understand. As is evidenced from two stories on the CBC website, the Energy Cost Adjustment Mechanism meant that rather than applying for increases as ME had to do before the previous government bought in this method of price adjustment, the average increase to a customers Electric Bill this year is 20%. That is a 20% increase on electricity costs in a provice that already has the highest electricty costs in the Country. Now they apply for a 7.5% increase outside of the ECAM formula. Once this is approved, they can continue to utilize the ECAM formula to raise rates even more. So while this may seem like a 7.5% increase, when all is said and done, we may be lucky to only see an increase of 20% this year.
Now a little bit about the ECAM. The ECAM adjust for the price of purchased and produced power and is based on prices from 2 months prior to the billing month. So the increases in electricy purchased should have been recouped by now as rates have not been incresing near as fast in other provinces. And I can't help notice that the cost of oil, thus the cost to produce any electricy has gone done significantly over the past few months. Alas, when I examine my power bill, there seems to not only be no decrease, but it has increased, yet again.
Yet it is us, the people paying for the power that does not understand the cost of electricity or the cost adjustment mechanism! I wonder though, is it us who does not understand, or is it people like Lanigan at IRAC, who maybe underestimate just how much we understand.
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PAT of pei from charlottetown, pei writes: how can maritime electric say they have not increased their power bills? we see a increase every month, little one here and there. no one can afford 7.5 percent, this is rediculous. the sooner we get our power from wind turbines. the better.
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wondering about it from pei writes: I have come to not trust Maritime Electric. And yes I do understand Energy Cost Adjustment. But I also understand that the cost of fuel rose in the summer when electricity usage declines and now that winter is here and consumption increases we have oil under $40 a barrel instead of $140. Seems to me that if the debt was incurred during that time any monies will be recovered over the coming months.
Incidentally my last electricity bill took a jump to $323.00 last billing from $270.00 the previous period, and this was after I switched over to oil fired hot water from electric. I was expecting it to go down hmmm. See why I have difficulty believing anything from Fortis.
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yaright from p.e.i. writes: Sounds like IRAC is in favor already,god have mercy on our bills.It will happen anyway,This is just a chance for IRAC to get paid for another meeting and a lunch on the taxpayers!There should be an investigation into the new digital meters,everyone i talk to with one stated a rise in their bills?absolutely no compassion from maritime electric at all,after all the problem is in their favor.i figure if these meters are at fault, from what i hear they have paid off their debt and are raping the consumers!if they are going in the hole why are the shareholders still getting dividends?don't understand my foot!i know when i'm getting ripped off and raped,i don't need IRAC to help maritime electric do it!
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krista from ns writes: GREEDY GREEDY GREEDY....
rip off customers + rate hike = big pay out for the big wigs. (GREED)
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sick from the drink writes: There are some interesting comparisons of all provincial electricity rates (as of May 1/08) here:
http://www.hydro.mb.ca/regulatory_affairs/energy_rates/electricity/utility_rate_comp.shtml
It turns out that we are already well ahead of every other provincial jurisdiction in every category that they measure. Wow it sure is nice to be first at something. And thanks to the good folks at IRAC, it looks like we will continue to be number 1 for the duration of 2009 as well. Kudos gang - job well done. And by the way, I hear there is trouble in the Middle East - you may want to think about making a special adjustment to the gas prices.
I do find it interesting how Lanigan chalks up opposition to the proposed increases to the fact that we just don’t understand how it all works. I guess you can throw me in with the other idiots who can’t figure out all this complicated rate stuff, because I would think that substantially lower input costs would result in lower rates. But that is just me, and as the IRAC yes-man says, what the hell do I know.
Now normally, someone who is involved with hearing evidence in an application and giving a ruling would not publicly indicate a bias one way or the other prior to making a ruling. But I am just some hillbilly from PEI. Apparently it is okay to dismiss the public input of the commoners since they can’t possibly understand why their already highest-in-the-country electricity rates shouldn’t undergo a further substantial increase in a climate of decreasing input costs. Good thing I am just some ignorant pigeon who will blindly accept whatever price hikes IRAC wants to approve regardless of market realities.
But there is some good news in all of this. Because the price of electricity is apparently largely based on last year’s input costs, we can all be confident that later in 2009, Maritime Electric will apply to IRAC to lower our rates since the current price of crude is plummeting. Man 2010 sure is going to be great, with all that extra money floating around.
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Taxpayer from Charlottetown, PEI writes: So they're asking for 7.5 which means they will be tickled pink to get 5 per cent. What they deserve is 2 percent cause that is what most people got for pay raises this year. If they can't make a go of it then maybe government should start buying up their shares in the coming years. Cause if their claim of losing money is correct then the shares should come at a real bargain.
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Julie from pei writes: I would love to know how much money Maritime Electricity makes in one month because I know my home bill was over 600.00 last month and that is for one month.
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Margaret Giddings from Charlottetown, P.E.I. writes: The idea of another electricity hike is absolutely abhorrent. The latest bill I received has already shown almost a 50% increase over any of my past bills. I am renting and cannot imagine what other folks with their own homes must experiencing. this has got to stop somewhere, first we are hit at the pumps, then in heating which in my case meant a rent increase and of course the cost of everything else. People can only handle so much and this should be very carefully thought out before any increase is even considered.
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loulouannie from pei writes: Yes, we poor stupid islanders just don't understand much of anything do we.
I think we understand being raped by maritime electric, and IRAC backing them. I'm pretty sure we understand that. But then, really we are just dumb islanders how could we possibly understand?
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Billy from Stratford, PE writes: I agree, this is beyond ridiculous. How will people afford these surging bills?
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mike from pe writes: Here Here Enough is Enough !!!!
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Chris from PEI writes: I understand quite well all of the concepts put forward here. I also understand that PEI will pay a premium in electricity costs over our neighbors due to our small size and population. I cannot understand however why the power rate needs to be so very out of sync with the rest of the Atlantic region. Is 70% higher really the end result of our location, population and this debt pool or is something else going on here?
Also shouldn't paying off their debt be taken from profits? If they incurred 40mil in debt when oil was $140 shouldn't they be able to recover some of that now that oil is at 33$?
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Melissa from PE writes: Maritime electric has raised rates by over 50% in the past 2 years. Most of these increases were small ones throughout nearly every single bill. IRAC can say no but Maritime Electric will do what they want anyhow. That's what happens when there's no one to police them.
We already pay the highest rates in the country, by as much as double some other provinces.
Please stop robbing us blind ME. I have a family to support.
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garth from pei writes: My God this is crazy....I wish I had all my mutual funds invested in Fortis! You can't lose......Come on Mr Ghiz-set up and do something!
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wog from PEI writes: I can understand the argument that the power company took a bath when oil prices skyrocketed, but now that the prices are at a 5 year low...wouldn't it stand to reason now that they will be gradually making up for that earlier deficit, especially since the power company have been gradually increasing their rates on a yearly basis since the beginning of time itself?...oh, wait..there are other mitigating circumstances I am probably not aware of right? Isn't that what we always hear? I suppose somebody could be hired to explain all these 'mitigating circumstances' but then they'll have no excuses when they present their cases to IRAC.
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Grace from PEI writes: People are just going to leave and go where they can afford to live...Very few can afford these rates when you add oil heat and everything else on top of it.Its becoming increasingly tough to make ends meet and this increase in electric rates may just be the final straw for many
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Cindy from PE writes: More money my soidier boy . My dad say for years ever time the was a increases in Rent, Hydro,Telephone, and Oil bill.So I guess the cost of living going up to. If they keep raise the roof.
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Tell me this... from pei writes: WIND POWER...we sell it and depend on oil fired power here. Fortis is gouging and I have no problem saying that. Two seniors living in a small bungalow. No one home all day. How did our bill double in one year? New appliances with the good energy ratings? (Power surges ruining appliances may have contributed to that). We cautiously leave rooms darkened when no one is in them. We do everything right, yet the power bill doubles. Yup Lannigan. You are right. We don't understand...perhaps that is your intent. I say either explain to us in plain terms we can understand why so many of your investors are getting rich on the backs of the poor, and I will listen carefully. I say that the wind power being generated on PEI should stay on PEI because it is our natural resource (a windy island) rather than make fat cats who are the shareholders in Fortis even fatter. Yup Lannigan. You are right. I don't understand.
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Hommer from PE writes: Power rates out of control. How can they blame the replacing of power poles caused by storm that should be an insurance claim like any homeowner they must have insurance Doh! Perhaps the province can take over the company or ask for proposals from either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick to run this company at rates comparable to anywhere else in North America. Also are we supplying power to the states for less than we pay with our Wind Energy???
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br Charlottetown from charlotettown, PEI writes: Vote for or against the increase at:
http://xfer.s5.com/me.html
Let your voice be known. Pass it on to friends.
Best way I could see since I don't see anyone out protesting in front of Martime Electric.
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Elaine from PE writes: This is yet another example of why my husband and I are looking at leaving the island. The fact that islanders can not see that they've been too much for everything, electric, food, etc is beyond me.
If the province does not do something, you'll be seeing more people leaving then have already.
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peisailinggirl from pe writes: maybe this will help explain :
http://www.maritimeelectric.com/about_us/ab_explaining_rising_electricity_costs.asp
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Chris from PEI writes: Why are we all here in this comment section with all this talk instead of organizing up to at least TRY and do something about all this? Even a petition is at least a try. Im going to go setup a domain and website for people who are looking to get active and stay informed in this area.
I agree with Don't beleive the hype , the decision has already been made to allow an increase. You can tell by the tone of Lannigans comments.
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The Observer from Stratford, PE writes: I read through most of these comments and wonder if any of you have read the crucial paragraph: “People don’t understand the fact that they’re paying for energy that they’ve already used and they just cannot grasp a cost adjustment mechanism.”
In other words the monthly changes to your bill are not official increases. What they are are really additional charges that could have been passed on to you in one shot (a big one) last winter. ME instead tries to cushion the impact by spreading these charges out over a year or more (I believe it's 18 Months). If ME has made any mistake it's that they have shown these changes on your bills as part of the basic electricity rate (kwh). It might have been better for their PR and the customer's understanding if they had shown two charges on the bill namely the official rate per kwh (which has not changed) plus a separate debt/averaging charge without any mention of kwh. That might help people to understand how ME is doing its billing.
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Don't believe the Hype from PE writes: To peisailinggirl from pe: That is great spin, right off the ME site itself. Kim Griffen would be proud. Now here is some info right of the Toronto Stock Exchange site.
Fortis incresed its first quarter dividends from $0.25 to $0.26 per share on common shares. Also paid out over $0.30 dividend on all levels of 1st tier preffered shares. This extends the Corporation's record of annual common share dividend payment increases to 36 consecutive years, the longest record of any public corporation in Canada. ie. Parent company turning huge profits! Of course they do not have to list the info for ME as that does not trade separately on the exchange.
I wonder what the executive compensation was for Fortis this year? They have yet to file their annual report with Sedar. ( Canadian Securities Commision). I bet IRAC will not be looking at this info.
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Old Tory from P.E.I. writes: We should go back to the formula where our rates were tied to N.B. (!0%). It is time for the people of P.E.I. to take back our utilities, these off Island companies don't give a damm about Islanders. I guess they need more money to build dams in Peru. I also don't know what the price of oil has to do with our electrical rates, the last time I checked our power came from Pinnte LePreau in N.B. which is a nuclear power plant, not oil. Say NO to a rate increase and if Fortis don't like it, offer them $1.00 to turn over our utility and get out.
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Don't believe the Hype from PE writes: To the Observer: It is 8 months, not 18. And the ECAM adjustments are tied to Kwh as ME purchases the electricy in blocks or lots. Lots are measured in Mwh. They state they by on the New England Market which can be found on the NYMEX. They pay much less than what other Atlantic provinces charge their residential customers and then charge us huge mark ups. They are making a killing. Check their securities filings and dividend payouts for the parent company.
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sick from the drink writes: (Stands up. Looks at Hype. Starts Clapping)
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enough is enough from pe writes: I for one have had enough of getting ripped off by these big corporations that
come here and drain the economy of Islanders while making records profits, Are we protected , NO , It appears that no matter who we vote into office, all our politicians have the mentality of a 4 year old or they are just in it for the pensions. Either way we are in a lose , lose situation.
As for martime Electric stating that they are making up the loss from the weather
a couple of years ago. What about all the years they charged us a monthly service charge for repairs and kept it as a profit. Do not depend on IRAC for anything unless you are a corporation.
An increase of over 50 per cent should be enough for any greedy corporation.
If you are as bad off as you state then make you figures open to the public. Then we will find out as some already know ,how much profit you are making now.
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Trevor Leclerc from Charlottetown, PEI writes: Thanks, Maritime Electric - you have made my mind up for me. I am sure my neighbours will be fascinated to watch the solar panels being installed on my house.
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