To the Editor,
Re: Letters on meters offer strange view, Letters, Nov. 24.
We are all missing the point with smart meters.
The real issue is the method in which we are charged for a product and service.
If you happen to have baseboard heating in your home, you will notice your bill will climb and double in the cold months.
Cold weather is B.C. Hydro’s excuse for last year’s high cost of electricity. To curb power abuse, Hydro has a method of adding 30 per cent to the cost of your power if you surpass your Step 1 threshold.
Unlike any business on the planet, B.C. Hydro has the monopoly power to charge an additional 30 per cent for a product if you buy too much.
It is difficult to explain because it makes absolutely no sense.
The mathematics behind hydro billing is morally wrong. Those families who are on the equal payment plan and recently received a huge year-end overage invoice know exactly what I am talking about.
And the huge spike in billing is all blamed on a cold winter. But the fact is B.C. Hydro is making 30 per cent more on your baseboard heater because it forces every family into Step 2 of billing.
The No. 1 green choice is to use electric heat instead of wood or heating oil. Looking at a year-end $500 plus B.C. Hydro overage invoice forces me to make the choice to heat my house with a more economically friendly but dirty fuel. Fortunately I have the option to burn wood or fire up my dirty old furnace.
If Hydro had any competition at all, it would be out of business. It is time to stop fooling around with a billing matrix that is putting families into debt.
Matt James
Nanaimo