Ontario Smart Meter News

[Guest guest]

Good idea in my perception,.........

Smart meters threaten to be an election issue in Guelph

_http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/588881--smart-meters-threat

en-to-be-an-election-issue-in-guelph_

(http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/588881--smart-meters-threaten-t\

o-be-an-election-issue-in-guelph)

GUELPH — Businesses can ill afford service fees associated with new smart

meters that encourage off-peak power use, says the owner and administrator

of the Norfolk Manor.

It’s another burden on firms already struggling with a high-cost

environment, Ing said Friday.

He huddled the day before with Guelph Progressive Conservative provincial

candidate Greg Schirk and Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim at the retirement

home. The Tories pointed to a government document indicating the smart meters,

which offer incentives to hydro users shifting to off-peak hours, come with

service fees they described as a new tax.

Guelph MPP Liz Sandals termed the Tory allegations **a campaign stunt.**

Utilities, she said, will have to justify to energy regulators any increased

charges to customers.

**There’s no carte blanche on anything.**

She added costs to install and maintain smart meters were included in

long-term energy cost projections and are public knowledge. The fact Tories are

only finding this out now is **their problem,** a feisty sounding Sandals

said. **They have not discovered anything new.**

But to Ing, any new power costs are a double whammy on businesses and

people who can’t shift their usage to evening hours, like stores with

refrigerators and freezers that have to run continuously.

**It seems to target businesses that don’t have an opportunity to change

their habits. We can’t shut stuff off.** Moreover, many businesses, he

added, don’t operate at night, as any visit to downtown Guelph during the

week

will attest.

Retirement residences like his are populated by older people who are

active during the day and rest in the evening, when consumer hydro costs drop,

he continued. **For them to do their laundry at night ... may not

necessarily be feasible.**

According to a Tory review of Ontario public accounts information, the

smart meter service fees will cost families across the province an estimated

$132 million more over four years and is on top of the $200-per-household

cost of installing smart meters.

Schirk said the information is buried in a document footnote, suggesting

the Liberal government isn’t keen on being seen raising **taxes.**

The bottom line is smart meters will drive up costs for homeowners and

businesses, despite government assurances to the contrary, he suggested.

**They seem to think we have deep pockets,** Schirk said. Yet Ontarians

are **struggling** to meet general living costs, he said.

_vkirsch@..._ (mailto:vkirsch@...)