PowerStream customers owed $13 million in overdue payments: Ontario Energy Board
Yorkregion.com
Aug. 28, 2016
By Jenni Dunning
If you are having trouble paying off skyrocketing PowerStream bills, you are not alone.
More customers of the energy company had overdue payments at the end of 2015 compared to the year before, according to new data released this week by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB).
In particular, there are more low-income customers on the list and they owed nearly 50-per-cent more than they did in 2014.
“We work out payment arrangements with them. They’re carrying some bad debts,” said PowerStream spokesperson John Olthuis. “We do work with United Way and other social services to help them keep their power on.”
At the end of 2015, 535 low-income customer accounts owed about $147,000, compared to 328 owing about $102,000 at the end of 2014, according to the OEB.
The other residential accounts owed less in 2015 than in 2014 - $13 million compared to $17 million - but the number of accounts went up from 55,000 to 56,000.
Data submitted by PowerStream to the OEB is not broken down by municipality. It covers Alliston, Aurora, Barrie, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Markham, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton, Tottenham and Vaughan.
Information for Barrie was not available before this newspaper’s deadline.
“Electricity is still a very good deal, even compared to a cup of coffee. It has gone up quite a bit but it’s still manageable,” Olthuis said.
Everybody has different circumstances. Suddenly they lose their job and they’ve been wonderful customers forever. You can’t just start sending (warning) letters.”
To help people pay their bills more easily, PowerStream plans to move to monthly billing in January instead of once every two months, Olthuis said.
“Getting a bill every two months is too much for some people,” he said.
The OEB data also shows PowerStream had no arrear payment agreements with any residential customers from 2013 to 2015.
Olthuis explained these are typically contractual payment agreements, which PowerStream does not use; instead it works with customers one-on-one.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman, who is a PowerStream director, said the city is doing everything it can to keep energy bills low, as it is one of the three owners of the company.
“Three-quarters of the price of power is the provincial cost. That’s just the cost of energy. The city and PowerStream have nothing to do with three-quarters of the cost of your bill,” he said. “The quarter that we do control, we work tirelessly to keep it as small as possible.”
Lehman said the Barrie Hydro-PowerStream merger six years ago saved about $100 a year for every average residential homeowner.
PowerStream is now in the middle of another merger with Hydro Brampton, Enersource and Horizon.
Lehman said this should save residents more money, but rates keep rising.
“With the price of power going up so much, often those increases...swallow up our savings,” he said.
Tips to save hydro this summer
- Use programmable thermostat to turn off or change temperature while away or during peak price times
- Use ceiling or portable fans
- Open windows on cool nights
- Use bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans to get warm air out of home
- Use clothesline instead of washer and dryer
- Close blinds on hot, sunny days
Source: PowerStream
PowerStream Inc. arrears breakdown
Number of regular residential customer accounts in arrears at year’s end (with dollar amount)
2013: 0 ($0)
2014: 54,605 ($17,346,177)
2015: 55,891 ($12,985,055)
Number of regular residential customer accounts written off in whole or in part during the year (with dollar amount)
2013: 2,616 ($977,890)
2014: 2,541 ($961,925)
2015: 1,331 ($508,891)
Number of arrears of eligible low-income customer accounts in arrears at year’s end (with dollar amount)
2013: 0 ($0)
2014: 328 ($102,681)
2015: 535 ($147,042)
Number of low-income residential customer accounts written off in whole or in part during the year (with dollar amount)
2013: 0 ($0)
2014: 12 ($7,950)
2015: 13 ($5,763)
Source: Ontario Energy Board
