Ontario’s “Fair” Hydro Plan Clown Show

The regulatory and financial underpinnings of Ontario’s electricity situation, which governments have vigorously shaken and stirred since 1998, are once again the subject of what might be politely called “transformational change” with the passage of Bill 132, “Fair” Hydro Plan (FHP) Act, 2017. It pains me to use the adjective “fair” in reference to this …

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Promoting Energy Illiteracy

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) says it is “committed to increasing energy literacy and providing consumers with reliable information.” As part of this commitment, it has published a rate comparison report here. The OEB’s report appears to be a reply to my power rates comparison analysis available here and published three days before the OEB’s. …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 133: Whitewashing the CityPlace Blackouts

In Part 132 of this series, I reported on the two root causes of the CityPlace blackouts. Contrary to Toronto Hydro’s claims, the blackouts were not caused by aging infrastructure but by overloaded infrastructure. Toronto Hydro first neglected to plan for and provide sufficient feeder capacity to serve CityPlace and then management negligently declined to …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 130: Stonewalled by Guardians (Again)

Part 125 of this series featured a guest post by two retired Toronto Hydro employees, Paul Kahnert and David Grant, documenting their efforts to get action from the City’s Ombudsman, the City’s Auditor General, and the Ontario Energy Board in investigating evidence of negligence, perjury, and fraudulent claims by Toronto Hydro and its CEO Anthony …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 129: You’re Not Supposed to Know

Are consumers able to get a fair shake from the Ontario Energy Board (OEB)? Every time anyone complains about power rates, the Ontario government leaps to its feet claiming that the OEB is protecting consumers. But, how real is that assurance? For decades, the OEB has relied on comparisons between Enbridge and Union to assess …

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Ontario Electricity Regulation Crisis Report Part 127: Poley McPoleface

With credit to Boaty McBoatface, it’s time for Toronto to have its own Poley McPoleface. In part 126 of this series, I introduced initial documentation of a pole being replaced as part of Toronto Hydro’s so called “aging assets” replacement program.