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John Pickernell

Assistant Board Secretary

Ontario Energy Board

416-440-7605

Fax: 416-440-7656

Website: www.oeb.gov.on.ca

Official Correspondence: BoardSec@oeb.gov.on.ca



Address:

P.O. Box 2319

2300 Yonge Street 27th Floor

Toronto, ON

M4P 1E4

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From: Raymond Gionet [mailto:r.gionet@sympatico.ca]
Sent: September 13, 2009 12:58 PM
To: BoardSec
Subject: Hydro Rate Increase File EB-2009-0096



HYDRO PROPOSED INCREASE FILE EB-2009-0096

To: Ontario Energy Board

From: Ray Gionet

Purpose: Objection to Rate Increase



I am objecting to this rate increase as I am a single income earner with a wife and two young kids living in a 900 square foot home. I am on equalized billing for hydro and currently pay $798.00 every two months. That is $4788.00 a year!



Hydro has taken out a full page ad in The Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal (August 17th). The ad is a notice of Application and hearing for an Electricity Distribution Rate Change. They are asking for a 9.5% increase in 2010 and a 13.3% in 2011 on the delivery portion of your bill. Does HYDRO ONE not realize that the consumer has a hard time making ends meet now? What about our industries or what is left of them? Why is it that they need more money when they have been handing it out to Communities as grants so they can be awarded Canada’s Top Corporate Citizen? Why do we have to pay Debt retirement costs if they have money to give away? Put it towards the debt! Since the reorganization of the Old hydro, HYDRO ONE and OPG have made huge profits. How about Ontario’s 100,000 club for government employees that made over that figure? Ontario Power Generation CEO Jim Hankinson topped the 2008 list at $2,485,000 in reported salary and benefits. However, a check of the company's filings with the Ontario Securities Commission shows the OPG boss earned a total of $3,451,946 last year. Hankinson's compensation that wasn't accounted for on the sunshine list includes a $600,000 retention bonus, flexible benefits of $50,100 and an executive allowance of $24,000.
Other top earners in 2008 included Ontario Power Generation vice-president Pierre Charlebois at $1.4 million and Hydro One CEO Laura Formusa at $926,000. Two other executives at OPG also pulled in over $1 million last year, while about a dozen others at two utilities were paid between $500,000 and $900,000.
Why an increase?
-Most of Ontario has gone to energy efficient bulbs helping reduce energy
-Industries that used large volumes of power are shut down
-This summer had record “low temperatures and had lowest air condition use thus saving more power
So why is it rates have to increase when demand has gone down?
Maybe it is time to advise Hydro and OPG that it is time to clean up its own house and stop waisting money. Every industry is facing job loss and wage cuts. Why not Hydro or OPG?
When is enough is enough? You have the chance to give Ontario citizens a break. Vote NO on the increase.
I have seen first hand our seniors bundled up in blankets trying to keep warm because they can’t afford the Hydro Bill. If these increases are allowed to continue, we will find them frozen to death! They may be even your parents or Grandparents. Let’s stop these excessive rates!






Ray Gionet

box 742

103 Hillview St.

Schreiber Ontario P0T 2S0

807-824-2419





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