To the Editor:
You may recall my letter in the February 27 edition of the Review regarding Fortis BC not being truthful about the interim rate increase that came into effect on January 1. They are telling us that the increase in 3.3 per cent, but have neglected to inform us that tier two has actually been increased by 4.6 per cent. I wrote a letter to the BC Utilities Commission to ask them to make Fortis tell us the truth, and I received a letter of reply that may be helpful in fighting the two tier conservation rate that has been forced upon us. In my letter to the BCUC I said that I believed that Fortis being allowed to charge those of us who live where there is no alternative to electricity, a higher rate for heating our homes is unfair and discriminatory.
The letter of reply from the BCUC said, and I quote: “The Commission is responsible for ensuring that customers receive safe, reliable and non-discriminatory energy services at fair rates.” They also enclosed a copy of the Electric Tariff that outlines the new rates. It says “the block two rate is increased by an amount sufficient to recover the remaining required revenue.” This, in my opinion, gives Fortis the right to increase tier two by whatever they deem necessary to make up for any lost revenue because of conservation.
I have written back to BCUC to say that “the tier two rates are not only unfair, they are discriminatory.” Fortis BCs decision to have those who are unable to conserve, because of where we live, subsidize those who can is by definition, discrimination, and it appears that the BCUC is not upholding its responsibility as is clearly stated in their letter of response to me. If you are angry about the two tier rates, I would ask that you write to the BCUC and file a complaint regarding this billing method. You can send a letter of complaint to Customer Complaints, BCUC, Box 250, 900 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2N3, or by email to:
Complaints@bcuc.com
The BCUC has asked Fortis BC to collect additional information from potentially heavily impacted customers and report back to the commission by November 30, so I would suggest that any letters to BCUC be cc’d to Fortis BC as well. Unless we let both Fortis and the BCUC know that this rate structure is a bad idea, I don’t think it will be going away.
Bill Copeland, Cawston