Regional director seeks accountability from Fortis B.C. and the Utilities Commission
PENTICTON – A South Okanagan politician continues his campaign to make Fortis B.C. and the B.C. Utility Commission more accountable to the public for rate increases.
Regional District South Okanagan-Similkameen director Tom Siddon has requested questions about Fortis B.C.'s two-tiered electrical rate system and the Commision's accountability be added to the agenda of the next Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in September.
The two-tiered rate structure, introduced in 2012, increased the cost of electricity after the first 1,600 kilowatts used in a billing period.
Siddon has said in the past the two-tiered rate system is an issue for many of his constituents in Electoral Area "D" who are often on fixed incomes and live in places which are not energy efficient and have electricity as the sole heating source.
The issue came up again at the regional district's board meeting, June 18, in response to a suggestion the directors advocate for a provincial energy retrofit subsidy for replacing old windows with more energy efficient units.
Siddon says many of the people in his area can't afford to put in better windows.
"The whole interface between the B.C. Utilities Commission, the provincial cabinet and the (regional district) board is important to me," he says. "Who does the BC Utilities Commission, who are appointed by cabinet, who do they respond to?”
Siddon says the Utilities Commission's public relations skills “are almost as bad as Fortis."
He says the decisions made by the Commissioners are often only related to rates and profits for the entities they regulate.
“They don’t care a damn about how they affect people,” he says, adding those were the reasons he wants time with the minister at the B.C. Municipalities Covention in September.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
3 responses
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I feel fro those who have electricity only (from FortisBC) and no natural gas (from FortisBC) for home heating.When we moved to the South Okanagan two years ago, the house was like that (and had been since 1962) and the baseboard heaters had resulted in a $ 1200 February bill for the tenants.No wonder that we had natural gas installed to the property almost directly.
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With a total of 60 B.C. communities calling for a Moratorium on BC Hydro’s FORCED and undemocratic smart meter program, WHERE are the BC NDP leaders Adrian Dix and John Horgan? BC Hydro KEEPS targeting the hold outs and are forcing these pieces of junk down our throats and are IGNORING the cries of the BC tax paying voting citizens who ARE going broke as Hydro forces us to pay our now DOUBLED bills or face the BULLIES at BC Hydro cutting power to our homes! Us hold outs are too smart for them, so they’re STILL using extortion and blackmail in a desperate attempt to complete the installation of these radiating and deadly devices! All this time, no one hears the public outcry, no one’s backing us up! This group is FINALLY trying to speak out on behalf of and in support of the people! For 3.5 YEARS now, we’ve had to stand alone in this fight AND we OWN the very company who is targeting, bullying, bankrupting radiating us.BC Hydro still is burning up our appliances homes while WE are the ones footing the bill for something none of us ever had any say IN?While we keep paying for these deadly devices, BC Premiere Christy Clarke has turned her back on OUR province allowing BC Hydro to run amok and cut power to our homes and schools!http://www.langleyadvance.com/news/hydro-overpowers-private-langley-school-1.1786784What kind of fair and Democratic process may I ask is THAT? Certainly NOT one that WILL see these deadly meters removed from British Columbia’s homes and schools! While BC Hydro hides, skirttails and lies their way past the countless unanswered scientific proof, questions and emails from the people being FORCED to pay for this dangerous and deadly program, there have been more smart meter fires and failures in BC then Saskatchewan AND the state of Oregon combined! The SCAREY part is they aren’t being recorded or documented! Here is just 1 of the countless links explaining 2 of the countless smart meter problems BC Hydro continues to lie about and hide from everyone in BC! One BC Hydro installed Itron smart meter on a Chilliwack home January 16, 2015 exploded! BUT wait… as you scroll down you the page, you’ll see a photo of yet ANOTHER BC Hydro Itron smart meter with water inside attached to a home on Vancouver Island. And THIS is just the tip of the smart meter iceberg! http://www.thevalleyvoice.ca/Voice%20Stories/january%202015/smart%20meter%20explosion%20causes%20house%20fire%20-%20january-16-2015.htmThe real kick in the BC tax payer’s faces is though a formal complaint was submitted to the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons on May 28, 2015 against BC’s Provincial Medical Officer Dr. Perry Kendall who HAS failed to fulfill his role as a doctor, for ignoring his duty as a public health doctor, to protect the public against these radio frequency wireless and deadly devices… there has yet been a response to the complaint, written May 28, 2015! Perry Kendall, our BC Health Officer and Health Canada tell us, these meters are safe BUT many people in BC ARE suffering from the radiation their smart meters are emitting into the wiring systems inside their homes and while they are suffering from the radiation these pieces of JUNK emit, they can NOT get away from it without leaving their OWN homes! In July 2012, a family in MY community lost their home, their belongings and their vehicles when a fire that originated at the base of a smart meter that had been installed the day before tore through their home in the middle of the night destroying everything in it’s path! Trish Regan’s daughter watched the Corix installer rock the meter again and again in an effort to install the meter under full load (without the home’s power turned off)! By the time the smart meter was on the house, damage to the base caused a short circuit that started the fire… http://www.missioncityrecord.com/news/161380275.html How long and what exactly will it take to STOP the publicly owned BC Hydro from bullying, blackmailing, radiating and bankrupting the BC consumers? Lori Richardson Giesbrecht Proud member of The Coalition to stop smart meters in BC and citizens for safe technology organizations.Just like BC Hydro, Ontario’s Hydro One IS blaiming the home owner’s meter base! Well, DUH home’s meter bases were designed for analoge meters NOT smart meters!https://soundcloud.com/am640/mcarthursmart-meters-are-exploding-homeowner-veronica-onyskiw-discusses-jun-4th-2015Lori Richardson Giesbrecht.Mission
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Another question for the UBCM regards the BCUC’s refusal to take action to prevent known fire hazards from being put on homes. In a Texas legal document, testimony was provided saying that many ITRON Openway smart meters, the very same meters used by Hydro and Fortis, failed, melted and burned, just as they are doing in BC. Why isn’t any agency demanding removal of these devices? Aren’t our lives and property more important than ITRON’s profit?
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