______________________
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
______________________



-----Original Message-----
From: Burke Chamberlin [mailto:bchamberlin@bellnet.ca]
Sent: February 7, 2008 10:20 AM
To: BoardSec
Subject: EB-2007-0681

To the Board,

Thank you for provding me the opportunity to respond to the Notice of
application by Hydro One Networks for a rate change that you published in
the Bancroft Times on January 24, 2008.

Hydro One Networks has stated in their application that their objective is
to simplify the billing system. While this might be a "nice" administrative
objective, it does not take into account local/regional economic
differences. To this point I would ask you and Hydro One to think about this
simplicity objective - which they have chosen to call "harmonizing", in the
context of another type of service - say for example a parking lot company.
Do you suppose that a customer of a parking lot vendor would accept a policy
of simplicity as the rationale for rates being the same in Bancroft as they
are in Toronto? Can you imagine yourself buying anything any where and
hearing from the vendor that the justification for an excessive price is
that 'it is easier for us to price them all the same'. The company that
would attempt to operate under such a policy would be doomed. For Hydro One,
because of its monopolistic position, does not reflect on such scenarios.

The Notice that you have made advises that Hydro One's proposal will result
in an average increase of "less than 1% on the total electricity bill". I am
not sure what this is saying. Given the multiple charges that comprise our
electricity bill, is the entire bill going to reflect this average increase
or some portion of it? I was alarmed to read in the very same newspaper that
Hydro One had taken out its own notice indicating that the average increase
for the Bancroft customer would be 21.2%. Obviously the averaging method
will benefit someone but the huge increase slated for Bancroft is, in todays
2% inflation rate just not acceptable. This is even more true when the
increase cannot be cost justified but is for expediency.

Consideration must be given of the average income of the consumers in this
area. It is an unfortunately well documented fact that our local income
levels are well below provincial norms and that by provincial measures we
are actually considered a depressd income area. Once again, I don't think
that the rationale for the increase put forth by Hydro One can or should be
accepted if it brings undue hardship to its customers. Homeowners and
businesses who must budget very carefully in order to pay for the various
essential and non-essential goods and services they require will find such
an increase so significant as to be crippling. This is shameful at best and
could be catastrophic at the worst if it results in a migration of
businesses and homeowners from the area. If this seems like
overdramatization, you just have to experience being a very marginal income
earner and learn that you have a whopping $50.00 per month increase in your
operating costs. This is devastating.

It is of great concern to me and many others that our important and
obligatory preoccupation with reducing energy in order to cut down on
greenhouse gases has already started to result in unit rate increases in
order to offset the lost revenue from lower consumption. Our efforts instead
of being rewarded are thwaretd by these increases. This is difficult enough
to accept without having to add the insult of an excessive simplification
charge.

Please do not allow Hydro One Networks to download their inefficiencies onto
us in such an inequitable manner.

Your truly,


Burke Chamberlin
Whitfield Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning
19 Valleyview Drive
P.O. Box 1149
Bancroft, ON
K0L 1C0

Tel. (613)-332-3831
Toll Free 1-800-646-6863
Fax (613)-332-4827
E-mail: bchamberlin@bellnet.ca
General Inquiries: whitphac@bellnet.ca
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